Burning Legion

The Burning Legion
File:TheBurningLegionnares.jpg
Main Leader:	Sargeras
Secondary Leaders:	Kil'jaeden the Deciever Mephistroth Mal'ganis Varimathras Balnazzar Detheroc
Base of Operations:	Various conquered planets
Main Factions:	The Shadow Council Dreadlord Insurgents Magtheridon's Forces Kael'thas's Forces
Secondary Factions:	Scarlet Crusade Scarlet Onslaught The Risen

"You are very brave to stand against me, little human. If only your countrymen had been as bold, I would have had more fun scouring your wretched nations from the world! " - Archimonde the Defiler to Jania Proudmoore during the Battle for Mount Hyjal.

The Burning Legion is an enormous army of demons, infernals and corrupted races who seek to destroy any source of order and life in the known universe. Lead by the dark titan Sargeras, they have invaded worlds beyond counting and massacred entire civilizations on their mad crusade to undo the work of their ancient enemies, the Titans. They have attempted to invade Azeroth three times, each time bent on the conquest and extermination of all the races on the primordial world, and each time they have been rebuked, forced to return to the Twisting Nether to regain their strength. They are also directly responsible for all the major wars that the world of Azeroth has been forced to experience with the events of the First, Second and Third wars all being able to be traced back to events put in play by the Burning Legion's leaders.

Despite the constant setbacks that they have suffered and the great losses they have borne as a result of the wars with the tenacious races of Azeroth, they have yet to give up on their mission to finally conquer the planet. They are considered to be the greatest threat that Azeroth has ever faced, and they seem to be an enemy that Azeroth will be forced to face until either side buckles permanently under the strain of defeat.

History

The Birth of the Legion

Long before the War of the Ancients, the first incursion of the Legion into the world of Azeroth, the Burning Legion was nothing but scattered races of demonic beings. These beings, who shared many deadly traits including malice and viciousness, roamed the Twisting Nether, finding worlds within the void and purging them of all life. During these missions of destruction, the demons that would eventually create the Burning Legion, stumbled across worlds that had been shaped by a creator race of mysterious giants, called Titans. These titans, who prized order above all else, would travel from world to world, defeating any chaotic elements on the planets they visited before re-shaping it into a form of their choosing. When the demonic races of the Nether began to invade their hand-crafted worlds, they assigned one of their finest champions, Sargeras, to combat the rising threats that these demons represented.

Sargeras battling the Demonic Legions

Sargeras, a noble giant of bronze, took to his assigned task well. He waged a long war against the demonic hordes, slaying many with his massive war-blade Gorshalach. Every demonic race that he defeated he would imprison, locking them away within the Twisting Nether so that they would never harm another world ever again. However with each victory, and each imprisoned race, the corruption that they spread began to affect the great being, who slowly slipped into a deep depression as he was wracked by doubt and despair. As time went on, Sargeras began to lose hope in his mission, but more than that he began to lose hope in the titan's goal of an ordered universe. When his fellow titans attempted to rouse him from this dangerous state they were ultimately unsuccessful. Sargeras dismissed their optimistic beliefs, regarding them as self-serving delusions and stormed from the ranks of the Titans forever, determined to find his own place in the universe.

Sargeras wandered the Twisting Nether, searching for his true path, but as he did so the corruption of the demons that he had defeated infected his noble heart even further, distorting his mind as well as his form. His bronze skin cracked, revealing the hatred that broiled beneath and his hair and beard, at one time as black as night, was set ablaze by the anger that radiated from his heart. Slowly he succumbed to hatred, anger and madness, and by the time the last vestiges of his noble spirit were all but wiped out, he had a new belief, that it was the Titans themselves who were responsible for the failure of creation. Determined to fix their 'mistake' he started to create what would soon become known as the Burning Legion. He traveled to the prisons that held the demonic races he had defeated in combat, and released them from their eternal bonds. Recognizing the hatred and malice that now boiled within the heart of their former jailer every race that he had once imprisoned swore themselves to him, offering to serve them in whatever way they could, using all their malice and powers over the darkness to complete the mission that Sargeras had set himself upon.

The Legion however, was not complete, and as Sargeras traveled the long pathways that made up the universe he came across the first sentient race that he would bring under the Legion's control. This race, known as the Eredar, were in tune with the magical forces of the world, so much so that they had a natural affinity for all magic. Deciding that this race would be a perfect addition to the Legion's strength, he reached out to the three leaders of the Eredar under the guise of a benevolent being. He promised the leaders of the Eredar; Archimonde, Kil'jaeden and Velen vast powers and even promised that he would use his own power to transform the Eredar into an even greater race. Out of the three leaders only Velen was suspicious of the offer, and after recieving a vision of his people being transformed into malicious and cruel demonic shadows of their former selves, he set about to warn Archimonde and Kil'Jaeden of the deception that Sargeras was using on them. Disregarding the warnings of their fellow Eredar, Kil'Jaeden and Archimonde accepted the offer to join the Burning Legion, and were transformed into demonic versions of their former selves. The majority of the Eredar race soon followed, although a large number of the Eredar would refuse the offering and instead follow Velen into exile, fleeing the planet Argus and leaving it to the forces of their malformed brethren. As a reward for their loyalty, the remaining leaders were given power and prestige within the Legion's command structure and charged with vital tasks by Sargeras himself. Archimonde the Defiler was appointed as the Commander of the Legion, charged with leading Sargeras's forces into battle where as Kil'jaeden the Deciever was tasked with seeking out other races to join the Legion's conquest.

The appointment of these two Eredar bore the Legion powerful allies. Kil'jaeden tracked down and enslaved the Nathreziem, a race of insidious vampiric Dreadlords with the first among them, Tichondrius the Darkener, pledging his race to Sargeras's control, where as Archimonde would call upon the terrible power of the Annihilan, also known as the Pit Lords, lead by Mannoroth the Destructor.

With the three races now firmly under his command, Sargeras's legion was finally complete. Sending them out into the Great Dark to bring about the destruction of all order and life, the Burning Crusade had officially begun.

The First Invasion of Azeroth

The Well of Eternity

Many thousands of years before the events of the First War, the forces of the Burning Legion would find themselves attracted to a distant planet within the Great Dark known as Azeroth. At this time, the world of Azeroth was still in a very primitive stage, and had a singlular landmass known as Kalimdor. Within the center of this vast continent sat a well of magical energy, known as the Well of Eternity and around this well the impressive empire of the Kaldorei a race of elves who had, much like the Eredar, a natural affinity for magic. Within this great empire, a sect of the Kaldorei, known as the Highborne were experimenting with the well under the orders of Queen Azshara, the ruling monarch of the Kaldorei people.

The reckless experimentation used on the well sent out ripples into the Great Dark, much like a stone casts ripples when it is thrown into a pond. These ripples reached out to many alien minds, but chief among them was Sargeras and the other leaders of the Burning Legion. Sensing the intense power radiating from the Well of Eternity, Sargeras was consumed by an insatiable hunger and in that moment he decided to destroy the fledgling world and consume the energies that the well stored for himself.

To that end, he reached out to the Queen and her Highborne servants, using his great power to enthrall her. Believing him to be a god, she agreed to grant him permission to enter her world and thus, ordered her servants to alter thier magic, turning the great well into a massive portal, from which the armies of the Burning Legion would pour forth. Within an instant the forces of Archimonde the Defiler and Mannoroth the Destructor had poured through into Kalimdor and had begun to lay waste to the Kaldorei capital of Zin-Azshari. Thousands of elves perished in the first hours of the invasion as massive Infernals destroyed towering spires and decorated temples. Vicious and bloodthirsty Doomguard marched through the streets slaying any they came across, while packs of Felhounds roamed the forests killing any who escaped the destruction within. The Kaldorei warriors rallied and attempted to fight back against these new enemies but were forced to give ground time and time again against the relentless onslaught.

In the end, the fate of the Kaldorei people rested with three individuals. Two brothers Malfurion Stormrage and Illidan and a young Priestess of Elune Tyrande Whisperwind. While neither of the three were military commanders, or could even be considered soldiers, they knew that without aid, this new army of demonic soldiers would wipe out not only all of the Kaldorei but the rest of Kalimdor as well. So Malfurion turned to his teacher, the demigod Cenarius and requested his assistance in mustering a resistance force. Knowing of the threat that the Burning Legion posed, Cenarius agreed to aid the Kaldorei and did so, not only by mustering the forces of nature, but by also reaching out to the reclusive, yet immensly powerful Dragonflights, who since the very beginning had served as the guardians of Azeroth.

The resisitence forces assembled and after considerable planning engaged the Legion at the ruins of the once great capital of Zin-Azshari. The primordial forces of nature, lead by the Ancient Guardians of the world, the ever powerful Dragonflights lead by the Dragon Aspects and the Kaldorei, lead by their own generals engaged in one of the bloodiest battles of the known world. There were thousands of casualties on both sides with even the immensly powerful ancients and dragons shown to be vulnerable to the power of the Legion. Eventually however the battle would turn against the resistence, for even with their newfound allies, they could not match the endless numbers of demons that poured forth from the Well of Eternity. It was in that moment that Malfurion realized that it was the Well itself that allowed the demonic forces free passage into the world and so to stop them, the Well itself would need to be destroyed.

The revelation was met with mixed reactions, especially from the Kaldorei as the Well was not only the source of magical power that many of the Elves relied upon, but also the source of their immortality. However with the support of Tyrande who in turn managed to convince Cenarius and their fellows, the plan to shut down the Well for good was set into motion. Illidan Stormrage however, knowing that the destruction of the well would never allow him to wield the powers of magic ever again, instead chose to abandon the group and race ahead to the palace of the Queen, where he intended to warn her of the coming assault. His warning was well accepted and as Malfurion and his allies moved to attack the mad Queen and her followers, she unleashed all her power against them, putting down many of them within the first few moments of the fight. Tyrande herself, attempting to ambush the Queen from behind, was caught off guard by the Queen's loyal guard and while she managed to slay her attackers, she was greviously wounded by the ordeal. Seeing his love fall, Malfurion slipped into a dreadful rage and using his own subsequent control over the power of nature, resolved to end Queen Azshara's life at any cost.

While the battle raged within, Illidan Stormrage, convinced that the elves would lose to the demon armies, appeared at the edge of the Well of Eternity with a specially crafted set of vials. Filling each vial with the waters from the well, so that he might keep the power of magic for himself, he greedily abadoned his brother to his fate, assuming that he too would fall to the demons with the rest of his people. However the truth was far different from what Illidan expected, for the great battle within the temple had thrown the spellwork of the Highborne into disarray, and without the intense spellwork required to maintain it, the portal collapsed in upon itself taking the Well of Eternity with it.

The Great Sundering

The resulting explosion, which according to all historical records became known as the Great Sundering shattered the landmass of Kalimdor utterly and blotted out the skies.

The world was nigh unrecognizable after the cataclysmic event. Nearly eighty percent of Kalimdor had been blasted apart, the massive oceans that surrounded the continent pouring in to fill the void created by the explosion. In the center, where the Well of Eternity once stood, churned an endless whirlpool which would forever be known as the Maelstrom.

Despite almost destroying the world, and causing the deaths of thousands of Kaldorei, Malfurion's plan had worked. With the Well of Eternity destroyed, the portal which the demons had been brought through was also dismantled, the demon armies of the Burning Legion cast back into the Twisting Nether from whence they came. This however was not the end of the Burning Legion, as they would return many years later to finish the task they started.

Sargeras's Return

Some thousand years after the first defeat of the Legion, and some 823 years before the First War, the demonic army would once again trouble the world of Azeroth, this time in the icy continent of Northrend. Sensing the demonic power that eminated from the cold north, a powerful female sorceress named Aegwynn, who had obtained the title of Guardian of Tirisfal, travelled to the hostile landscape and challenged the demonic hordes. With her own considerable spellpower and the aid of the Dragons that called the area home, she banished the demons back to their home plane of the Twisting Nether, however just as the final demon was vanquished a great storm erupted through the north and a dark, powerful visage appeared in the sky above Northrend. Sargeras, Lord of the Burning Legion appeared before Aegwynn in the form of an avatar and threatened the woman, informing her that the time of the Guardians of Tirisfal would soon be at an end and that all would bow before the power of the Legion.

Believing herself more than able to take on the avatar of the Lord of the Burning Legion, Aegwynn engaged the demon in a fierce battle of magic, finally battering the Demon Lord until his physical shell lay broken and dead on the ice covered ground. Fearing that the spirit of the being would linger, she locked the broken husk away in one of the ancient halls that had been blasted beneath the waves during the Sundering. Believing the fight to be finished, Aegwynn could not possibly know that she had done the Demon Lord a great service, for in the final moments of the avatar's life, he had transferred his spirit to the weakened body of the great and powerful sorceress. The spirit of Sargeras's avatar, would play a significant role in events to come, and even the husk that had once been the creatures body, would play a part, the hall in which he was buried becoming known as the Tomb of Sargeras, although it would not be entered for close to another millennium.

The Second Invasion: The Great Wars

The second invasion of the Burning Legion occurred some 10,000 years after the events of the first. For this entire time the Legion had waited for the right moment to strike the world of Azeroth once again, however it fell to Kil'jaeden the Deciever to ensure that the invasion succeeded. As eager as he was to ensure that Azeroth fell to the demonic hordes, he would take no chances with this planned invasion and decided that rather than simply invade the world of Azeroth as they had done in the past, this time they would use a different tactic. A new force would need to be assembled, a force that would weaken the defenders of Azeroth before opening the door for the Legion's armies.

Solders of Stormwind engage the Horde.

And so Kil'jaeden searched the Great Dark, looking for a suitable race to serve as his new army. Eventually he would stumble upon the lands of Draenor, and on this peaceful planet he would discover two very important races. The shamanistic and noble Orcs, and the remnants of the Eredar people, named Draenei, who had fled with Velen when they had embraced the promises of the Legion. Deciding that he would use the Orcs, not only as his new army, but as a tool to exact revenge on Velen and his people, Kil'jaeden reached out to the elder shaman Ner'zhul. Through this elder shaman and his apprentice Gul'dan, he was able to twist and warp the once noble race of orcs into a bloodthirsty and savage Horde, which soon turned upon their Draenei neighbors, butchering the peaceful citizens and desecrating their holy sites. While the Draenei would eventually manage to flee with the help of the Naaru, Kil'jaeden's primary goal, the creation of an army to weaken the defenders of Azeroth was complete.

However getting to Azeroth would require a gateway, and such a gateway simply did not exist for the armies of the Horde to march through. It was during this time that the Avatar of Sargeras, now possessing the body of Aegwynn's son Medivh, would plan the opening of such a door. Known as the Dark Portal, it would become the entry point for the Horde into the land of Azeroth. With intense spellwork and concentration the doorway was opened, allowing the Horde to finally surge forth, and thus began the First War.

While the Horde was initially successful in it's invasion however, the tenacious race of Humans that inhabited the continent that the Orcs had arrived on was not so easily defeated. Banding together into an Alliance with other native races on the continent, they fought the Horde with everything they had. Casualties were high on both sides of the battlefield, but eventually by the end of the Second War, the Horde had been completely defeated by the Alliance of Lordaeron, with the humans and their allies even invading the world of Draenor, forcing the elder shaman Ner'zhul to flee to another dimension entirely. For the orcs that had survived the great wars, they were captured and thrown into internment camps by the forces of the Alliance. The Orc Horde had failed...

Rise of the Scourge

The Heraldry of the Scourge.

While the Orcs had indeed failed in their task to pave the way for the Legion's return, Kil'jaeden, while furious, was not completely without plans. Again deciding that a force was required to weaken the forces of Azeroth, he set about the creation of such an army, only this time, the army would be bound to a single consciousness, as to avoid the true downfall of the Orc Horde, which was brought about by malicious, political agendas. To do this Kil'jaeden tracked down the rogue shaman Ner'zhul and forced him once again to swear his allegiance to the Legion. Twisting and remaking his form, Ner'zhul was orc no longer but instead a powerful entity that would become known as the Lich King. Trapping his essence into a block of ice, he hurled it into Azeroth, where it would crash into the icy continent of Northrend. Then, upon using the Plague of Undeath, the Lich King would raise an almost unstoppable army of the dead, the Scourge was born.

The resulting years saw great victories for the Scourge. Where the Orcs had failed, the armies of the dead had succeeded. The Kingdom of Lordaeron was ravaged utterly along with the Elven Kingdom of Quel'thalas, and with the aid of the fallen prince Arthas Menethil and the Lich Kel'Thuzad, the Legion was finally summoned into the world outside of the mage city of Dalaran. Once again, after over 10,000 years of waiting, Archimonde the Defiler walked the world of Azeroth again.

The resulting invasion of demons, including the forces led by Mannoroth the Destructor ravaged what remained of the Kingdom of Lordaeron, but Archimonde's true goal, and indeed Mannoroth's as well, was not with the pitiful human race but rather across the great sea, on the distant land of Kalimdor. A shadow of it's former self, Kalimdor was the home of their ancient adversaries, the Kaldorei, and in the case of Mannoroth, it was also the new home of the Orc Horde, now lead by a younger, noble Warchief, known only as Thrall. The Burning Legion, now finished with the humans, traveled across the Great Sea to the distant shores, where they engaged the Kaldorei forces along with the Orcs and other humans who had fled from the Eastern Kingdoms during the onslaught of the Scourge. The Burning Legion won many battles, their limitless numbers ravaging the world once again, but not without cost. Mannoroth the Destructor was slain within the forests of Ashenvale in a self-sacrificing attack by Grom Hellscream, meanwhile Tichondrius the Darkener, leader of the Nathreziem, was slain in Felwood by the forces of Illidan Stormrage.

Finally Archimonde pushed his forces toward their true goal, the World Tree Nordrassil, source of the Kaldorei's immortality. Planning on taking the power within the tree for himself, much like Sargeras had tried to take the powers of the Well of Eternity thousands of years before, he laid siege to the forces that defended the mountain. Humans, Orcs and Kaldorei alike fell before the Legion's onslaught, and just when all hope seemed lost, as Archimonde scaled the World Tree and prepared to drain it of all it's energy, Malfurion Stormrage, now an Arch-Druid, called forth the power of nature using the Horn of Cenarius. The resulting spell, forced all the power of the World Tree, and that of the ancient wisps that surrounded the Demon Lord into him at once and unable to contain all of the power within his body, Archimonde exploded, destroying himself, the World Tree and much of the forests of Hyjal.

With the destruction of their leadership and the decimation of their forces, the Burning Legion had once again been defeated by the natives of Azeroth. With Archimonde's defeat, Kil'jaeden assumed command of the Legion's armies, and while furious at yet another failure, pushed forward with plans to scour the world of Azeroth of all life.

Aftermath of the Third War

The end of the Third War saw a large number of changes to the known world, as the races of Azeroth struggled to rebuild from the demonic onslaught of the Legion starting with the formation of the New Alliance in what remained of the Kingdom of Lordaeron. Formed under the leadership of Lord Garithos and supported by the remaining forces of Quel'thalas under the leadership of Kael'thas Sunstrider. This New Alliance, while only making up a mere fraction of the forces that stood for the original Alliance of Lordaeron still managed to retake the ruins of Dalaran while fighting off the forces of the Scourge and the Legion in the Silverpine Forest and Alterac Mountains. The forces of Quel'thalas however, now known as the Blood Elves or Sin'dorei would abandon the New Alliance however, after being persecuted and imprisoned unfairly by Lord Garithos.

Changes in Kalimdor

Felwood after the Third War.

While the demonic forces of the Legion had been defeated during the Third War they were by no means fully pulled from the world as they had been during the First Invasion. Many demons and Saytr tribes still roamed the world, specifically in areas where demonic contamination was rife and free to expand. The forests of Felwood, fully corrupted by the Legion's touch, was one such area, as was Demon Fall Canyon in Ashenvale, where the weapon of the Pit Lord Mannoroth remains after death.

Not all Legion activity was confined to the lands around Mount Hyjal however, as the grasp of the Legion and it's servants was substantial indeed. Burning Legion loyalists from within the Burning Blade Clan claimed several areas of Kalimdor for themselves, and within the barren landscape of Descolace there are entire regions controlled by the Legion and their Shadow Council servitors.

Changes in Lordaeron

With the forces of Quel'thalas withdrawn from the New Alliance, the forces of Lordaeron had a more difficult time reclaiming land from the Burning Legion and the Scourge. Despite the lack of numbers and the superior power of the Legion, the human and dwarf forces of the New Alliance was not wiped out entirely by the commanders there as they were not perceived to be a significant threat. Rather, the three Nathreziem that lorded over the Burning Legion in Lordaeron; Balnazzar, Detheroc and Varimathras still waited for word from their leader Archimonde still unaware of the Legion's defeat in distant Kalimdor.

These Dreadlords, the last vestiges of the Legion's control on Lordaeron however were quickly ousted by the forces of the Scourge under the command of Arthas Menethil and Kel'thuzad. They would in turn plot their revenge against the wayward prince, enlisting the aid of Sylvannas Windrunner herself after she broke free of the Lich King's grasp.

Thankfully at least for the Scourge however, Arthas escaped the machinations of Sylvannas and her temporarily allies among the Dreadlords and escaped, fleeing to Northrend to see to the defense of the Lich King. In turn, Sylvannas, now a large portion of undead under her command, turned on the Dreadlords in short order, unwilling to give up her new found freedom to become a pawn of the Legion. She defeated the armies of Varimathras and forced him to bend a knee to her and then set about to finish off the remaining two, Detheroc and Balnazzar.

Choosing to eliminate Detheroc first, Sylvannas was forced to content not only with the Dreadlords forces, but also the forces of the New Alliance which had fallen under the sway of Detheroc's substantial mental abilities. She personally defeated the Dreadlord and in doing so, freed the forces of the New Alliance, where upon she met with 

Banner of the Crusade.

Lord Garithos and organized an alliance. The two armies would work together to oust the forces of Balnazzar, the last remaining dreadlord, and in exchange the undead would give the ruins of Lordaeron City back to the New Alliance. Of course this was all a ruse on Sylvannas's part, while she had every intention of working with Lord Garithos to defeat Balnazzar, there was no truth behind her promise of giving Lordaeron to the forces of the New Alliance after the deed was done. Indeed after Balnazzar's defeat, she had Varimathras, in a show of loyalty, slay his comrade before turning on and killing Lord Garithos as well.

With Varimathras at her side and her Forsaken army at her back, Sylvannas took up permanent residence within the ruins of Lordaeron City, quickly discovering and building upon the vast network of structures that Arthas had started building during his time as the controlling monarch. Naming this new city the Undercity, it remains the Forsaken Capital to this day.

Meanwhile, unbeknownst to Sylvannas, both Detheroc and Balnazzar survived their apparent deaths. Out of the pair only Balnazzar made his presence known although the truth would not be discovered for many years. Having possessed the body of Saidan Dathrohan, Balzannar took over command of the Scarlet Crusade, a organization consisting of former Lordaeron soldiers and paladins of the then decimated Silver Hand.

Outland

Despite the destruction of the majority of the planet of Draenor, the desolate remains, now called 'Outland' was still under control by the Legion under the command of the Annihilian Pit Lord, Magtheridon. With a powerful army of Fel Orcs and Chaos Orcs at his command, he fought against a deformed faction of the Draenei who had been subjected to the Legion's corruptive fel magic. Lead by Akama, a former priest of the Temple of Karabor, these 'Lost Ones' fought with everything they had against Magtheridon's forces, but could make no significant dent, at least not until the arrival of Illidan Stormrage and his allies, Kael'thas Sunstrider and Lady Vashj. With Akama's aid, Illidan managed to break into the Black Temple and depose of Magtheridon, taking his forces, both Orc and Legion alike for himself.

Stormwind

The Legion made very little impact on the southern kingdom of humanity during the Third War, but none the less maintained a command structure within the Blasted Lands to the far south. Lead by Lord Kazzak, an impressively large Doomlord, the Burning Legion controlled large swathes of the Blasted Lands and with the aid of Razelikh the 

The Legion marches in Outland.

Defiler he was able to bring the the Dreadmaul Ogres, their leader Grol the Destroyer, Lady Sevine and Archmage Allistarj. Also joining this small portion of the Legions forces was Ilifar the only Death Knight to break away from the Scourge and join the Legion outright.

The Third Invasion

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The Royal Coup

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The Cataclysm

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Current Status of the Legion

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