During the War of the Shifting Sands, Archdruid Fandral Staghelm commanded Druids, Sentinels, Priestesses of Elune, and Keepers of the Grove.
Daring the odds, they during this prolonged battle pressed deeper into the desert and deeper into the earth - but what if these Druids who could sense a darkness deep beneath the depths in an attempt to find the heart of the swarm found a power that cursed them instantly?
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Enter - the Fal’dorei
Vanilla adherent write up for the Legion race of the Fal’dorei. Location changed for point of origination, and cause of wild magic which resulted in their origination. https://wowpedia.fandom.com/wiki/Fal'doreiClassification
- Medium humanoid
- Independent,
The Silithid Empire
- Priestess, Hunter, Mage, Druid, Warrior
- Silithus Tunnels
- Orathiss (Queen)
Na'zak the Fiend (Alpha)
- Azeroth
- Silithus
- Neutral-Evil, Chaotic-Evil
And so begins the tale of the Fal’dorei... The fal'dorei were elves once... Now they are monsters, birthed in the chaotic energies of the Qiraji. They must be eradicated.”
Although their Druids sensed an evil deep beneath the sands, the pressures of the war drove this expeditionary brigade deeper and deeper into the tunnels of Silithus. Fighting off the Silithid who stood in their way, they thought that perhaps if they reached the deepest chamber they might yet find a way to destroy the bugs once and for all. Perhaps there were broodmothers at the very base? What they found was a font of power, an obelisk dedicated to the Old God C’thun which carried with it a mesmerizing hum.
He desired freedom. He desired control. He desired the living world. He desired blood.
It is unknown if the first of them all, the Sentinel Orathiss, struck out in servitude or fear - but as soon as her glaive cleaved the stone in twain there would never be a them again. A sudden burst of powerful magic, dark and unconquerable overtook the group within the depths of the earth far from Elune’s protective light. Warping them, twisting them, changing them… They awoke hearing His words, His commands, His thoughts as surely as the Silithid themselves. In fear and agony, they attempted to turn the tunnels into their tombs by calling down a rockslide.
Was it salvation that they survived? Was it damnation that they survived?
They did not know themselves anymore. They did not know.
The strongest willed of the Fal’dorei found themselves in brief moments of lucidity, and some for this reason lost their minds upon realizing the true extent of their transformations and subjugations. Others tried to make the best of their ‘new’ existences, their tunnels linking up with other Silithid traveling deep beneath the Kaldorei Empire they once safeguarded. Any light burned their eyes, now darkened by centuries of pitch black scuttling. What would happen, if Elune saw her favored children now?
They dare not ponder it, for He would not take kindly to having a god other than He in mind.
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Supporting Lore Referenced
-975
The War of the Shifting Sands[51][52]
C'Thun and the qiraji awaken and attack Kalimdor. Fandral Staghelm leads night elves and dragons against the qiraji, pushing them back to the desert of Silithus. They are successful in sealing them within Ahn'Qiraj, but Fandral's son Valstann is slain in battle.
Around 975 years before the First War, Archdruid Fandral Staghelm, a leader of the Kaldorei people and specifically its druids, initiated an ambitious quest to regrow the desolate land of Silithus. To this end, he sent his warrior son, Valstann, along with a group of druids, to begin this project. As they trekked across the scalding dunes in search of fresh water reservoirs that they would use to transform the region into a lush forest, they came across a mysterious and ancient fortress deep in the desert's interior. Although some of the druids, sensing the darkness, advised against entering the dark halls, Valstann forged onward. His presence in the cold, shadowy halls of Ahn'Qiraj inadvertently roused the dormant qiraji back to life. From his prison beneath the fortress, the Old God became aware of the awakened qiraji.[2]
As in times past, C'Thun urged the insectoids into a murderous frenzy. Those in the higher castes of qiraji society began organizing their minions, the most numerous of which were known as the silithid. Coming in many different forms and species, the silithid were nonetheless totally loyal to the qiraji above them. The ranks of the qiraji also included numerous stone constructs, including the tenacious Anubisath. Horrified by their discovery, Valstann and his druids fled Ahn'Qiraj and established a small outpost in the desert to monitor the insectoids. Before their eyes, the fortress began to swell with greater and greater numbers of qiraji. Having sent for reinforcements, Valstann and his companions could do little else but watch the buildup within the complex.[3]
The Qiraji swarm
Without warning, an army of innumerable proportions burst forth from the fortress itself, as well as the tunnels beneath Ahn'Qiraj. The qiraji overlords directed their silithid minions to engulf the desert and then spread to all its neighboring regions as well. They began to sweep across Silithus, swarming over ever dune and canyon. By this time, however, Fandral Staghelm had successfully rallied a sizeable force of kaldorei, consisting of druids, Sentinels, priestesses of Elune, and keepers of the grove. He made haste to the south of the continent, where the night elf host clashed with their vicious foes.
Having now broken out of Silithus, the qiraji represented a major threat in the eyes of the night elves, who fought desperately to keep them contained within the south of the continent. While they had powerful forces at their disposal, they nonetheless found the sheer numbers of the qiraji host to be insurmountable.
Thus, a back-and-forth action ensued between the two forces. Occasionally, the kaldorei would gain the upper hand and manage to force the silithid qiraji back towards the dunes of Silithus, only for the insectoids to mount counterattacks with renewed strength and numbers and regain the initiative. The ebb and flow continued for months and many hundreds fell on both sides, the land littered with dead night elves and insectoids alike. The War of the Shifting Sands had begun.
In a determined effort to defeat the qiraji, Fandral and the night elves established a number of outposts and bases across the south of Kalimdor, from which they could more effectively prosecute the war. These bases proved invaluable in allowing the kaldorei to gradually, but markedly push back the qiraji and gain the upper hand. Eventually, the night elves advanced into Silithus and drove the qiraji back into the very heart of the desert itself. Yet, just as final victory for the night elves seemed within reach, the war took a drastic and dire turn. Valstann had been ordered to hold and secure one of the night elves' outposts near the front, Southwind Village, which was important to their continued advance against the silithid. During a feint orchestrated by the qiraji, however, the village and those inside were surrounded. Valstann himself was captured and ripped apart before Fandral's eyes.
Valstann's death shattered the will and confidence of the archdruid and sowed uncertainty and apprehension among the night elves' ranks. The qiraji seized on this opportunity and lull in the fighting and swept once more through Silithus. The weary and confused kaldorei forces subsequently fell back before this new onslaught. Having believed that they were on the verge of victory, this new turn of events severely dented the night elves' confidence and morale. Desperate after the war's recent events, Fandral contacted the reclusive Bronze Dragonflight who resided in the region. He begged them to aid the now-failing war effort against the qiraji, but the bronze dragons ultimately refused, declining to involve their flight in what they considered to be the affairs of the lesser creatures.
As the silithid once more spread out from Silithus, however, they began to push into the deserts of eastern Tanaris. In their frenzy, they even assaulted the Caverns of Time, the sanctum of the Bronze dragonflight. The qiraji's reckless attack prompted the bronze dragons to finally join the war against them, allying with the kaldorei and enlisting the aid of the Red, Green, and Blue dragonflights as well. Led by Anachronos, the bronze dragons, as well as those from the other flights, joined the fray and began to turn the tide against the qiraji once more. The night elves, heartened by this new, if unexpected, reinforcement, also began to increase their efforts to drive the qiraji swarm back permanently.[4]
https://wowpedia.fandom.com/wiki/War_of ... ting_Sands
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We made this write up for a player in our guild who hoped to be born from a Fal'dorei. The lore of the Fal'dorei in Legion left things to be desired, and seeing the changes which N'zoth was capable of inflicting upon the Kaldorei and Hignborne, it begged the question: Could C'thun do the same?
We're open to constructive criticisms and ideas below!
