User:Joshmaul/Taeril'hane Ketiron/In Deathwing's Wake

The Shattering has changed the face of Azeroth, and opened up new lands...and new threats. Both Alliance and Horde have taken up arms, both against one another and against the evil forces that have arisen in the wake of Deathwing's return.

As a member of the Horde in these trying times, Master Taeril'hane Ketiron has taken up arms to fight the encroaching evil that threatens the world.

Legacy of the Ancients: The Ascent to Nordrassil
The first thing Ketiron did, after obtaining license to fly on his own, was to journey across Ashenvale Forest and up the slopes of Mount Hyjal. The green dragon Aspect Ysera, sister of the Dragonqueen Alexstrasza, guardian of the Emerald Dream and patron of druids, had returned from the Nightmare thanks to the efforts of Malfurion Stormrage. The Dreamer was rallying the mortal warriors of Azeroth to Hyjal to fight off the Twilight's Hammer, and also to aid in a truly momentous undertaking: The return of the Ancients, the demigods who had fought against the Burning Legion in the War of the Ancients ten thousand years earlier, and in the early days of their return before the Battle of Mount Hyjal a decade before.

Aided by Farseer Jaeden'laek, Ketiron began his work fighting the Twilight's Hammer that had begun their invasion at a glade south of the World Tree, where Malfurion himself commanded the Hyjal wardens in fending off the Twilight's Hammer. Jaeden'laek told Ketiron that, on his way in from the Moonglade, he had learned that the Elemental Lord Ragnaros, believed to have been defeated in the molten core of Blackrock Mountain five years earlier, had returned and was now allied with Deathwing. A portion of Ragnaros' realm, the Firelands, had encroached on the slopes of Hyjal, and the Twilight's Hammer marched with his fire elementals to lay waste to Nordrassil once and for all. Collecting and assembling the pieces of a druidic artifact known as the Flameseer's Staff, the two men - honoring the pact they made at Sorrow Hill shortly before the war began - destroyed some of the more powerful elementals and weakened Baron Geddon, one of Ragnaros' lieutenants, also believed to have been destroyed at Blackrock.

Ysera tasked the Master and the farseer with journeying to the shrines of the Ancients, many of which were left in ruins. At the Shrine of Goldrinn, the wolf Ancient (revered as "Lo'Gosh" by the Horde), Ketiron fended off a pack of crazed worgen, servants of Lycantoth, a usurper to the powers of Goldrinn. Eventually, his investigations led him face to face with the evil wolf, and in defeating him, Goldrinn was restored to power. Nearby, at the Shrine of Malorne (the stag Ancient, revered as "Apa'ro" by the tauren), the turtle Ancient Tortolla was held imprisoned, his powers usurped by the fire turtle Nemesis.

One of his last actions in Hyjal, before being recalled to Orgrimmar, was to aid in the resurrection of the demigoddess Aviana, slain during the War of the Ancients, and aiding in the destruction of her corrupted eggs, held in the Firelands by minions of Ragnaros.

The Realm of the Stonemother
As his sojourn in Hyjal approached a close, Ketiron was summoned back to Orgrimmar by the shaman of the Earthen Ring, of which Jaeden'laek was an ally. The former Warchief, Thrall, had departed his post and joined with this shamanic order - which existed on both Azeroth and the remnants of Draenor - to combat the raging elements. Despite a layover on the Lost Isles due to an Alliance attack, Thrall arrived at his ultimate destination: The Maelstrom, where the original Well of Eternity had once sat. After being restored to health, Deathwing broke out of Deepholm, the elemental plane of earth, through the Maelstrom, creating a great rift; Thrall was trying his best to ensure that the instability of the rift did not threaten all Azeroth.

Teleported to the Maelstrom via portal, Ketiron rode on the back of a wyvern guided by Aggra, Thrall's mate and closest confidant, as it circled the Maelstrom and then flew into the burning red center. When Ketiron opened his eyes, he was astounded, as he was altogether removed from the world as he remembered it. Landing at the Temple of Earth in the center of the area, Ketiron reported to Maruut Stonebinder, who led the efforts in Deepholm. Maruut informed Ketiron of the existence of an ancient Titan artifact known as the World Pillar, shattered upon Deathwing's forceful exit from Deepholm. If the fragments were not found and restored, Deepholm would eventually collapse into Azeroth, making what the Shattering seem mild by comparison.

Journeying through the land, Ketiron investigated the crash site of the Horde gunship Storm's Fury, which at first glance appeared to be the victim of the Alliance gunship flying overhead, known as Llane's Oath. Suspicious - especially given the events of the Wrathgate, where nothing had been at all what it seemed - Ketiron flew up to Llane's Oath and discovered that the crew of that vessel was also dead, save for the first mate, Moody, who was trying to stabilize the ship so that it did not crash into the rocks. On further investigation, Ketiron learned that Llane's Oath had been hijacked by the Twilight's Hammer and attacked Storm's Fury to make it appear like an Alliance sneak attack, in order to coerce the two sides to fight each other instead of the Twilight's Hammer. It turned out that Storm's Fury had been carrying a fragment of the World Pillar, and was delivering it to the Temple of Earth, but never arrived. With the aid of Stormcaller Mylra, an Earthen Ring agent, Ketiron captured Mor'norokk the Hateful, a Twilight ogre-mage. Dangling him over one of the gunship's propeller engines on her gryphon, Mylra was able to learn from the ogre that the fragment had been delivered to a being known as the Forgemaster at Deathwing's Fall nearby. Upon learning that the dwarf never intended to kill him - wind elementals would have broken his fall - the ogre took matters into his own hands, blasted away the elementals, and cut the chain, shredding him in the rotors.