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pampampampam pampampampam hello everyone!
The mysterious first ones are wrapped in quite a bit of mystery. The greatest
minds have tried to decipher their language, their architecture and clues left behind but
none have come up with solid answers. Today we’re going to take a crack at it,
combine information from the chronicles, the grimoire, shadowlands itself and see if we can
figure out what these first ones are all about... In the beginning... It is said that before
life began, before even the cosmos took shape, there was Light...and there was Void.
Unfettered by the confines of time and space, the Light swelled across all existence
in the form of a boundless prismatic sea. Great torrents of living energy flitted through
its mirrored depths, their movements conjuring a symphony of joy and hope. The ocean of Light was
dynamic and ever shifting. Yet as it expanded, some of its energies faded and dimmed, leaving
behind pockets of cold nothingness. From the absence of Light in these spaces, a new power
coalesced and came to be. This power was the Void, a dark and vampiric force driven to devour all
energy, to twist creation inward to feed upon itself. The Void quickly grew and spread
its influence, moving against the flowing waves of Light. The mounting tension between
these two opposing yet inseparable energies eventually ignited a series of catastrophic
explosions, rupturing the fabric of creation and birthing a new realm into existence. In
that moment, the physical universe was born. The big bang you could say, light
and void clashing with eachother, the explosions and energies forged what we call
the warcraft universe with reality in the middle, the emerald dream and the shadowlands connected
to it. The elements that surround it and then the major cosmic forces, the domains of Light,
Disorder, Death, Shadow, Order and Life. But what if these cosmic forces did not
just automaticly fall in line. What if they were actually forged, Scribed, SHAPED to
do so? That’s where the first ones come in, atleast according to the research of the brokers; The archives in Oribos, as well as
the singing stones of Nirem- Ahn, confirmed that it was the first ones who were
the progenitors not only of the shadowlands but of the very fabric of all realities.
Six forces existed in strife, opposition to one another. An imbalance until there was a
need for something more. They came together (or were brought together, dependending on how one
interprets the fractal) and gave form to their design. Each gave a portion of themselves, and
thus the pattern was drawn. It is from here that the language becomes clearer. With a framework
in place, all that we now comprehent came to be. As if reality were nothing more than a fungus
growing upon the frame. Six forces now in balance, and from their intersections arose others. A
simple structure, growing infinitely more complex. A design that answers questions like how or
why did aman’thul wake up and start to form his pantheon? The first ones might have been a catlyst
in this, part of their design. Reallity grew like a fungus upon their frame so I read this as the
first ones brought order to warcraft universe. They layed the foundation, they got these
cosmic forces into an eternal tug of war. As we learned from bastion, that balance is
really important or all would fall into chaos. A framework, but not a set in stone kind
of deal. Rather it grew in complexity, on its own, with the choices made by those that
are inside this universe just like it always has. Yet on the other hand, you could
take this and spin it in such a way that no choice matters. That reality as we know
it has been forged by the hands of the first ones. A path, a purpose, a prison
guiding our every steps...
“Ow you misunderstand. We’re breaking
a system that has always been flawed and remaking it into one that is just.
Scuf. Do you expect me to believe that all this time you’ve
been fighting for justice? How can I convince you. From our first breath
to our last, every decision is made for us. Then the afterlfie decides what eternity we
must endure. We can’t even choose who we... We couldn’t control anything. But through the jailer, control of
our fate will at last be possible.” While researching the first ones, the brokers
sought centers of knowledge that legends tell them have been shaped by the progenitors hands.
Places like Nirem-Ahn, that has singing stones. Baraneth, a new place mentioned. Korthia,
that land that was hidden in the in between, used by the primus to hide his sigil
but dragged in by the jailer to claim it and then... Oribos...and by extention the major
domains of the Shadowlands. Interestingly enough, you could also read this in such a way that
the first ones created it with lines like; The first ones who were the progenitors
not only of the shadowlands but of the very fabric of all realities. The great
cycle between death and life, as well as the lesser pendulums that swing between light and
shadow, order and disorder – all were conceived and put in place by the first ones, along with
the pantheons that embodied their influences. All were conceived and put in place which
could mean they came up with it all right and willed it into being or they conceived their
grand design and put it into neat little places. That’s the line of thought I’m going with, the
way that the titans and the pantheon brought order to planets. A similar thing was done by
the first ones, but on a much larger scale, a cosmic scale along with the pantheons that
embodied their influences. We know of the titanic pantheon and we now know of the pantheon
of death. There’s mention and speculation about a pantheon of life supported with the
idea of Elune being the winterqueen’s sister. What kind of pantheon would
disorder, void and light offer? So oke, the first ones dipped their hands
into the Shadowlands and went to work. Oribos was crafted to serve as the arrival point
for mortal souls where they were to be judged and placed into their fitting afterlife by the
arbiter. The domains we’ve visited are only a sample of the near infinite domains the
shadowlands hold. Now we need to keep in mind that the research of the brokers takes
place between patch 9.0 and patch 9.1 so the recent revelations have not been considered
and it paints an interesting picture. Their research talks about the purpose. Everything
that happens, happens through the purpose. The moment we arrived in the city, they wouldn’t
stop mumbling about the purpose and just as Oribos is the heart of the shadowlands, so the
purpose keeps the realms of death in balance. All beings in the endless cycle serve the purpose
– even those who do so unknowingly or unwilingly. The attendants in the city believe they were
created by the arbiter and due to the purpose, continue their work, continue being her
voice and will despite the arbiter being out of comission. And yet in Korthia
we’ve met a bunch more attendants, some that even have knowledge on the sepulcher
and the first ones, knowledge that they’re not willing to share. These are not dedicated to the
arbiter, they’ve have completely different rols like dedicating themselves to the secrets
of the city or the fates destiny wields. Then The arbiters origins, that are as shrouded
in mystery as those of her fellow eternal ones who rule the realms of death. Even a cursory
investigation of the venerable architecture and detail presented in the eternal city would
lead one to conclude that the arbiters station must have been established long before the first
mortal soul arrived to receive her judgment. So what happened to souls before
the first ones designed this system? It was the wisdom of the first ones, who
believed the arbiter best suited to this task among their children. She was shaped by their
hands and blessings for this critical role. And yet some among the attendants of the
arbiter continue to insist that it was her choice to dwell within the heart of oribos.
To efficiently facilitate the assignment of the never ending torrent of
souls to their intended afterlives, the first ones bestowed upon the arbiter the
ability to witness the entire breadth of the life of each soul. She would use this gift to
great effect in the eons after. The attendants insist that their arbiter has always been fair,
impartial, and implacable. Yet in my research, I discovered certain ancient references to a
time when this being was not quite so benevolent. But so worn and fragile were these records that i
fear i cannot, in good faith, avow their veracity. With the ending of 9.1 we learned a
great deal more about Zovaal the Jailer. “Once, Zovaal stood among us as
the Arbiter. Yet he defied the will of the First ones and sought to
unmake the balance of the cosmos. – We used Zovaal’s anima to construct a new Arbiter,
one that would be dispassionate and just.” Vague records that speak of a time when
the arbiter was not quite so benevolent, a time in which Zovaal still fullfilled that rol. They replaced him, and not even the attendants
nor the brokers research are able to figure out that it was not the first ones that did
this rather it was his fellow eternal ones. These days no souls get sorted, instead they
go straight down into the maw which caused huge problems for the rest of the shadowlands. With
souls come anima, the lifeblood of this world. Brokers never considered hoarding the stuff for
their own gains since it was so abundant, but those days were over. An attack, red of color,
is what shut her down. Still there has been no clear answer what this attack is supposed to be.
While partying in Revendreth, a domain with the purpose of paying for your sins and by doing
so gathering a whole bunch of delicious anima, they did place the blame upon their Sire
Denathrius. The grimoire seems to be agree. As the breaking of the arbiter threw the realms
into confusion and panic, sire denathrius employed the very spires of revendreth to siphon the
ambient anima and add it to his hidden stores. All the while, the drought’s devious architect
claimed to be just another victim of its tragedy. But why sort souls to begin with? Well, Anima
sustains the workings of this afterlife. The system of the Shadowlands, the zones doing
their thing... it’s a process that both yields and requires anima. The first ones understood this,
understood that they were going to need a reliable stream of mortal souls crossing the veil. And so
Bastion was given the purpose of ferrying souls and to make this happen. The progenitors must
have known that oversight of this pivotal process would require an indomitable spirit with
an unwavering adherence to duty and service to these mortal souls. The archon of bastion, a
statuesque being known as kyrestia the firstborne, would embody that spirit. She established
the path that all kyrian were to follow, never allowing her people to stray from her
singular focus on the purpose of bastion. In Ardenweald they use that anima for a cycle of
rebirth. The wild god cenarius is a great example. When he died on Azeroth, off he went into the
shadowlands, ardenweald where he spend a bit of time recovering. Considering he’s a child of
ELune, the winter queen treats him like he’s family, and after enough time recharing, off he
went back to the emerald dream to eventually be brought back to Azeroth itself. This function
supports their theories that the first ones crafted the underlying framework for the cosmic
forces of the universe: one that would facilitate an endless cycle of death and life, which they
made central in their creation. The role that they designed for the winter queen within this cycle
was a vital one, requiring a bond between the conflicting forces so intimate that it is logical
to assume that the existence of a reciprocal being who serves as her counterpart can be found as
well. Yet just as the winter queen assumed her place in the pantheon of death, this apparent
counterpart took up a similar possition in what we must hypothesize to be a pantheon of life.
Elune and the Winter Queen, one of the domain of life and one of the domain of death. Seeing how
the origin of the Eternal ones is unclear, it’s hard to figure out how this relationship, this
bond works. Did the first ones create the eternal ones or did they wake them up similar to how the
titans woke up or did they empower and bless them similar to how the dragon aspects came to be?
Is calling eachother brother and sister truely a family thing or more like a bond as strong as
kind of deal? Questions still to be answered. Then there’s Maldraxxus to keep them all safe.
As the shadowlands is not this hidden away domain where none can enter. We’ve seen incursions from
the void, we’ve seen the effects of the light, even our forces have ventured in. The first ones
wanted a way to protect their forged shadowlands to not only match but to overpower all potential
battlefronts ahead and so they imbued the very landscape of maldraxxus with qualities that
are unique among the infinite afterlives. The power to shape and alter the very landscape
of maldraxxus was granted to the eternal one who stood at the head of the necrolords, the master
strategist known as the primus. By his hand, the malleable flesh fields and bone spires of his
realm were shaped to serve as the ideal training ground for the ultimate army. His stratagems
and weaponry would prove to be infallible against his every foe. One acount cites that the
only losses the primus suffered were intentional, as he felt there was more to be learned in defeat
than in an endless series of decisive victories. The perfect excuse to use for next time you lose
a game. So we got Bastion as the supplyer. Oribos as the sorter. Revendreth cleansing the bad
products and really good at sucking out the goods. Maldraxxus to keep them safe and Ardenweald using
their goods to facilitate their cycle of rebirth. An endless cycle of life and death,
fitting that the symbol of the first ones is infinite or a snake devouring itself, a cycle. A cycle that worked as it was supposed too until
Zovaal wanted more. He wanted forbidden knowledge, that which the first ones hid away within
their sepulcher. By combining their sigils he would have been able to craft a gateway to
the realm of the first ones, Zereth Mortis. “Venari dialogue”
Decoded glyphs and many ages of study translate Zereth best into keystone or
cornernerstone and Mortis presumably meaning ‘of death’. His plans were prevented by the eternal
ones. Zovaal being so powerful that it took their combined might to stop him, but stop him they did.
Ripping out his power and then use it to make a new arbiter. His chains would be an invention
of the primus, the language of domination, its purpose being the utter suppression of
another. Down into the maw they cast him, the place where irredeemable souls get to hang
out. We now know that the jailer was not always the jailer. He is as much the master of the maw
as the maw is the master over him. So far every domain that we’ve visited offers a purpose, a
reasoning to this great snake cycle but what purpose in the grand design of the first ones does
the Maw fullfill? Could it be that it was actually the eternal ones that took a domain similar to
Korthia and repurposed it into becoming the maw to contain zovaal. That could be an answer as too
why there’s a waystone of the first ones in there similar to how there’s a waystone on korthia, but
still no solid reason why it only responded to us. Modifying the system of the shadowlands to
no longer just use anima to keep the cycle going but to also contain their brother. And by
extention create a kink in the perfect circle that would lead to its ultimate collapse. Since over time, the jailer would learn how to
turn his chains into a weapon. It would be he that mastered this runic language, domination
magic. The primus foresaw this possibility as he was able to leave messages behind before
disappearing. A journey that took him to Korthia, another land forged by the first ones. The
perfect place for him to hide away his sigil. And then, someway somehow he was caught by
Zovaal, taken in Torghast and tormented. if we got to believe the legend of the
primus though, he never loses except when there’s more to be earned from defeat...
As a prison of the jailer, his mind was shattered to rip out his greatest designs. Tools
that would lead Zovaal to claim the final prize, the secret that the first ones sought
to hide. He ripped out the designs for Frostmourne and the helmet of domination and set
his sights on a little planet called Azeroth. Azeroth is mentioned time and time again as
being this special place. Death is coming for the soul of this world and while there might be
something really special about her, besides the planet that our characters party on, it could
also be simpler...a matter of oppertunity. It could simply be that Zovaal didn’t particularly
care what outside planet would herald his coming, would aid him in his liberation out of the maw
and all the things that went down. Rather it was Sargeras that made Azeroth his prime target
because it was through Sargeras, Kil’jaeden, the Burning Legion that they wanted to conquer
Azeroth for the dark titans biggest fear was a titan waking up while being corrupted by the old
gods. That’s what was slumbering inside our planet and that’s why he wanted to come in and
destroy it. By making use of that plan the jailer through the dreadlords send over
Frostmourne and the helmet of domination. The lich king as we know it ...the massive story
that played out. Ner’zhul and Arthas are described as failed heralds. They failed the Jailer and
Bolvar also managed to hold it all together. Yet along the way there was another oppertunity
that presented itself... Sylvanas Windrunner. They make note that prior to the event that caused
the arbiter to cease her judgments, the scribes in oribos claim that relatively few souls received
the irreversible edict of banishment to the maw. After all, those with even a slim chance to atone
for their crimes were sent to revendreth, and as we have documented in our cartels travels, there
exist numerous afterlives of temporary punishment for souls who merit it... So why did
sylvanas end up in the maw to begin with? Did the jailer still have a sliver of his sorting
powers from the days of being the arbiter? Maybe but lets not forget that Arthas and
Frostmourne were able to give him a piece of Sylvanas’ soul. We’ve been kinda worried that
they were going to use the soul splintering as an excuse for her deeds, but the recent Uther
dialogue does not seem to support that. So what if the soul splintering is instead used
as a reasoning why she got in touch with the jailer in the first place? Uther was also
splintered and still made his way to Bastion, but perhaps the jailer was like good...go to
bastion. The time of hiding is no longer needed. Show them that I have mastered domination magic
and am breaking out. Show them that the path is flawed, leading to Arthas being dropped into the
maw, devos joining the jailer’s side, the mawsworn and all that followed. Being 100 steps ahead of
everyone at all times must be pretty great. If the maw was truely designed later as a prison
to contain their brother zovaal then that sheds a light on the eternal ones and the souls they
condemned to eternal damnation. It also makes you question what sylvanas’ judgement would have
been, what domain she would have been send too. So that’s the influence of the first
ones and their design of the shadowlands. Zovaal wants to reshape the universe, not one
that’s free, not one that’s just, but one in which everyone serves him. Looking at tazavesh,
the powers of the first ones are heavily connected to the powers that make up the cosmos. Still
plenty of mystery and questions to be answered. Did the first ones pop out of existence when the
warcraft universe came to be or did they make the warcraft universe came to be?
What rol did they play in the creation of the eternal ones.
What ties connect the different cosmic domains, what other pantheons and relationships
between them exist out there. Are the first ones we learn about in the
shadowlands just the first ones of death, could there be first ones for all domains
that came together to make this all happen? What lies within the sepulcher of knowledge?
What secrets of the first ones is zovaal after? Plenty to still discover but for now you’re up
too speed on what we know about the first ones. Say that you want more details on all the
things we talked about today or just read up on it in your own time, check out the related
wowhead article in the description down below. Thank you very much for watching everyone
aaaand until next time....see ya!
