Proverb: Ysera and the Green Dragonflight, Part 2
Heartbourne
Proverb is a twice-weekly column discussing the lore of Warcraft. It is spoiler heavy for all Warcraft games, novels, and other media. Comment on this post or send a tweet to @Heartbourne and let us know what you would like to see in future columns!
If you haven't done so yet, be sure to read part 1!
After the War of the Ancients, Ysera returned to her reclusive ways. The green dragonflight is extremely reclusive, spending most of their time wandering the Emerald Dream, even though they possess the ability of dreamsight that allows them to exist in both worlds at once. The new night elven druids agreed to wander and safeguard the Emerald Dream in exchange for their immortality, and their slumber lasted for some ten thousand years.
Ysera wasn't seen again by mortals by some time. She and all other dragons were much weakened after sacrificing much of their power to the Demon Soul. The various dragonflights continued their war on the black dragonflight. One brood of Ysera coexisted with the night elves on Azuremyst Isle. The night elves rode atop the green dragons, and they became known as the Dragon Riders of Loreth'Aran, led by Prince Toreth. Deathwing noticed Ysera's kindness to permit the night elves to ally with her brood, and send Razormaw and other black dragons to eradicate them on Wyrmscar Island. The green dragons eventually lost, with all of that faction losing their lives. Their souls have not been put to rest, as Prince Toreth swore to not let their story be forgotten.
The next sighting of a green dragon was some 9,000 later during the War of the Shifting Sands, where Merithra along with the red dragon Caelestrasz and the blue dragon Arygos pushed the Qiraji past the Scarab Wall. After being sealed inside, those dragons remain to this day. Anachronus, the great Bronze Wyrm who led the dragons against the Qiraji, entrusted the night elf Fandral Staghelm with The Scepter of the Shifting Sands, which could be used to open the gates of Ahn'Qiraj where the silithid were sealed if needed. Fandral shattered the scepter, and the four shards ended up in the hands of various dragons. One of them was the green wyrm Eranikus.
Shortly after, Ysera learned of another nefarious plot. The trolls of the Gurubashi empire were undergoing a civil war, and a group of priests known as the Atal'ai had plans to summon the ancient blood god, Hakkar the Soulflayer into the world (not to be confused with Hakkar the Houndmaster). They were defeated and fled from their capital at Zul'Gurub north to the Swamp of Sorrows. There, they erected a great temple, known as The Temple of Atal'Hakkar (meaning "In Honor of Hakkar" in Zandali). Ysera attacked the temple with some of her most trusted lieutenants, smashing the temple and sending it into the soft, marshy ground (hence its common name Sunken Temple). Many of the green dragonflight remained in the temple, guarding it from ever having any such dark design again. Among those guarding it were the great wyrms Eranikus and Itharius, as well as four younger drakes, Dreamscythe, Weaver, Hazzas, and Morphas. While they succeeded in destroying Hakkar's physical form in the world after the trolls had summoned it, his spirit influenced the dragons, sending them into a madness. They suffered in both the physical world and in the Emerald Dream, where they seemed to be corrupted by another source as well (more on this later, see Emerald Nightmare). Eranikus became known as the Tyrant of the Dream. Players enter into a long quest chain to free him from this corruption. Itharius is one of few drakes that was not corrupted, and he sends players to aid the green dragonflight in the temple.
A thousand years later, during the second war between orcs and humans, Ysera and the greens again made an appearance to mortals. Alexstrasza had been enslaved by Nekros Skullcrusher, an orcish Warlock, and was being manipulated by them using the Demon Soul. Deathwing had no small part in their designs. The other three Aspects were summoned by Korialstrasz, Ysera included. His plea to her to save his queen stirred Ysera to open her eyes, one of the few times she did so. The only other recorded times were upon seeing Malorne's death during the War of the Ancients and again when commending Malfurion on his skills in druidism. Ysera's eyes are a vast, shifting rainbow of colors, and in them you can see the eyes of every living creature on Azeroth.
With the aid of the green, blue, and bronze dragons, Alexstrasza was freed. They destroyed the Demon Soul, restoring their powers to as they were before the War of the Ancients. Ysera again opened her eyes with the joy of regaining her power. Dragons again began emerging in the world with their return to grace.
The next Proverb will be about the corruption surrounding the Emerald Dream and recent green dragon and druid history.
If you haven't done so yet, be sure to read part 1!
 |
| Ysera in the Emerald Dragonshrine |
After the War of the Ancients, Ysera returned to her reclusive ways. The green dragonflight is extremely reclusive, spending most of their time wandering the Emerald Dream, even though they possess the ability of dreamsight that allows them to exist in both worlds at once. The new night elven druids agreed to wander and safeguard the Emerald Dream in exchange for their immortality, and their slumber lasted for some ten thousand years.
Ysera wasn't seen again by mortals by some time. She and all other dragons were much weakened after sacrificing much of their power to the Demon Soul. The various dragonflights continued their war on the black dragonflight. One brood of Ysera coexisted with the night elves on Azuremyst Isle. The night elves rode atop the green dragons, and they became known as the Dragon Riders of Loreth'Aran, led by Prince Toreth. Deathwing noticed Ysera's kindness to permit the night elves to ally with her brood, and send Razormaw and other black dragons to eradicate them on Wyrmscar Island. The green dragons eventually lost, with all of that faction losing their lives. Their souls have not been put to rest, as Prince Toreth swore to not let their story be forgotten.
The next sighting of a green dragon was some 9,000 later during the War of the Shifting Sands, where Merithra along with the red dragon Caelestrasz and the blue dragon Arygos pushed the Qiraji past the Scarab Wall. After being sealed inside, those dragons remain to this day. Anachronus, the great Bronze Wyrm who led the dragons against the Qiraji, entrusted the night elf Fandral Staghelm with The Scepter of the Shifting Sands, which could be used to open the gates of Ahn'Qiraj where the silithid were sealed if needed. Fandral shattered the scepter, and the four shards ended up in the hands of various dragons. One of them was the green wyrm Eranikus.
 |
| Eranikus, Tyrant of the Dream |
Shortly after, Ysera learned of another nefarious plot. The trolls of the Gurubashi empire were undergoing a civil war, and a group of priests known as the Atal'ai had plans to summon the ancient blood god, Hakkar the Soulflayer into the world (not to be confused with Hakkar the Houndmaster). They were defeated and fled from their capital at Zul'Gurub north to the Swamp of Sorrows. There, they erected a great temple, known as The Temple of Atal'Hakkar (meaning "In Honor of Hakkar" in Zandali). Ysera attacked the temple with some of her most trusted lieutenants, smashing the temple and sending it into the soft, marshy ground (hence its common name Sunken Temple). Many of the green dragonflight remained in the temple, guarding it from ever having any such dark design again. Among those guarding it were the great wyrms Eranikus and Itharius, as well as four younger drakes, Dreamscythe, Weaver, Hazzas, and Morphas. While they succeeded in destroying Hakkar's physical form in the world after the trolls had summoned it, his spirit influenced the dragons, sending them into a madness. They suffered in both the physical world and in the Emerald Dream, where they seemed to be corrupted by another source as well (more on this later, see Emerald Nightmare). Eranikus became known as the Tyrant of the Dream. Players enter into a long quest chain to free him from this corruption. Itharius is one of few drakes that was not corrupted, and he sends players to aid the green dragonflight in the temple.
 |
| Itharius in his high elf form |
A thousand years later, during the second war between orcs and humans, Ysera and the greens again made an appearance to mortals. Alexstrasza had been enslaved by Nekros Skullcrusher, an orcish Warlock, and was being manipulated by them using the Demon Soul. Deathwing had no small part in their designs. The other three Aspects were summoned by Korialstrasz, Ysera included. His plea to her to save his queen stirred Ysera to open her eyes, one of the few times she did so. The only other recorded times were upon seeing Malorne's death during the War of the Ancients and again when commending Malfurion on his skills in druidism. Ysera's eyes are a vast, shifting rainbow of colors, and in them you can see the eyes of every living creature on Azeroth.
With the aid of the green, blue, and bronze dragons, Alexstrasza was freed. They destroyed the Demon Soul, restoring their powers to as they were before the War of the Ancients. Ysera again opened her eyes with the joy of regaining her power. Dragons again began emerging in the world with their return to grace.
The next Proverb will be about the corruption surrounding the Emerald Dream and recent green dragon and druid history.
Reader Comments (6)
i cant say this enough, but thank you for bringing the lore to the forefront. It has so much to do with the game we all love, so why not know a little more about the world we "Live" in.
Keep up the great articles, in my case, they are one of the few things that I'm awaiting through out the week.
Can't wait for the next one!
Project Lore is soooo dead ! No videoes anymore = fail site
great lore keep it coming. the blogs are about all that is project lore anymore.
Project Lore = A project encompassing the lore of the game. PL was not about just videos, but the lore as well.
So.....
@Pitcher - Fail!!!!
Keep it up PL, even tho most every blog has spoilers for me in regards to the books. I actually find it helpful, keeps me reading and learning, gives me that little extra motivation to keep reading so that I may get the full understanding of what y'all write about.
I too enjoy reading this blog. Please continue to write about Warcraft lore.
I'm fairly clueless about the story behind the quests. Your insight makes grinding 60 Bristleback Quilboar Tusks for Mankrik a bit more interesting (if that's possible).