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NeutralNathreza
Population Thousands[1]
Races IconSmall NathrezimSL MaleIconSmall NathrezimSL Female Nathrezim
DemonDemonDemonDemon Demon
Major settlements Unknown basalt city[1]
Languages Nathrezim,[2] Eredun
Affiliation Burning Legion
Location Twisting Nether

Nathreza is the homeworld of the demonic nathrezim (also called dreadlords), located in the Twisting Nether. It served as a repository for the Burning Legion's arcana and forbidden knowledge[3] and housed a great archive recording every campaign ever carried out by the Legion. Just before the invasion of Outland, Illidan Stormrage assaulted the world with his Illidari and raided the dreadlords' archives for the Seal of Argus before returning to Outland and using a spell in an attempt to obliterate the world. Although Nathreza blew apart, part of it survived in some form.

The nathrezim rarely use their written language outside of their homeworld.[2] Most outsiders know little of Nathreza, and the little that is known is only rumor.[4]

Description[]

When Illidan and the Illidari saw it, Nathreza was a collection of rocks floating in the emptiness of the Twisting Nether. It was orbited every few minutes by a tiny green sun and dozens of small glowing moons. Rocks drifted across the sky and obsidian obelisks floated above cratered plains. Potent fel energies saturated the very fabric of the world and everything on it; in fact, the planetoid itself was carved from pure magical energy congealed into pulsing, chromatic stone.[1][5] Due to its location in the Twisting Nether, any demon who is killed on Nathreza dies permanently.[5][6]

Nathreza was inhabited by hundreds of nathrezim and thousands of their servants[1] and had several cities.[7] One city consisted of black streets, basalt and obsidian towers lit by fel energy, and palaces where nathrezim planned the destruction and enslavement of worlds. Basalt disks rose up the sides of buildings. In the center stood a gigantic windowless tower amid a grid of energy flows:[1][5] Nathreza's main archive,[7] which contained records of every campaign the Legion had ever conducted, every portal it had ever passed through, and the name and location of every planet it had ever destroyed. It was the heart of the nathrezim's world and the living memory of their race, and dreadlords schemed to have their names imprinted there. The interior of the archive was made up of towering stacks of obsidian disks, each disk a record. It was protected by complex defensive spells and organized almost chronologically, with the oldest disks located on the bottom of each stack and the stacks closest to the center being the oldest of these.[8]

Following Illidan's shattering of it, Portal Keeper Hasabel described Nathreza as "once a world of magic and knowledge, now a twisted landscape from which none escape".[9] Latent shadows and deception is core to Nathreza.[10]

History[]

Colonization[]

The nathrezim were originally Death beings who were created by Sire Denathrius of Revendreth, one of the realms of the Shadowlands. In order to end a conflict between them and the Stonewright countless ages ago, Denathrius exiled the nathrezim to "a world beyond the Shadowlands",[11] presumably meaning Nathreza.

Illidan's raid[]

WoW-novel-logo-16x62 This section concerns content related to the Illidan novel.
Illidan and demon hunters

Illidan and his demon hunters.

The warlock Gul'dan saw visions of Nathreza at some point in his life. Illidan Stormrage inherited these memories when he absorbed the Skull of Gul'dan's power.[1][5] Illidan's end goal was to destroy the Burning Legion's stronghold of Argus, and the only place he knew of that contained clues to Argus' location was Nathreza.[3] For years, he planned an assault on the dreadlord homeworld and compiled information about it by plundering libraries in Outland and interrogating dozens of demons. Finally, one month before the invasion of Outland, he used a ritual to send his soul into the Twisting Nether and passed by countless worlds destroyed by the Legion before he found Nathreza and could deduce its location.[1]

Shortly after, he lured Maiev Shadowsong and her Watchers into a trap at the Hand of Gul'dan and used the souls of the slain to create an enormously powerful portal to Nathreza—the greatest feat of sorcery performed in Outland since Draenor's destruction.[12] Illidan and his Illidari demon hunters rushed through the portal and destroyed an army of demonic defenders commanded by hundreds of dreadlords that marched to meet them. They then pressed on to the nathrezim city and stormed the great archive.[5] While the Illidari held the entrance, Illidan descended into the archive and claimed his objective, the Seal of Argus, before defacing many of the records and thereby ruining the nathrezim's prized monument. The Illidari then battled their way back to the portal and passed through it back to Outland. Illidan then collapsed the gateway, causing it to unravel in a surge of explosive energy powerful enough to tear apart a continent. He calculated that this would shatter Nathreza in the same way that Ner'zhul had shattered Draenor.[8] Indeed, the spell caused a tidal wave of magic to surge over the planet, obliterating the dreadlords' cities. Shortly after the portal closed, Nathreza blew apart. Every demon on its surface perished.[7] This was the greatest defeat the Burning Legion had suffered in millennia.[7][8]

Later history[]

Portal Keeper Hasabel - Nathreza portal

Portal Keeper Hasabel's portal to Nathreza.

Mal'Ganis left behind a strange artifact from Nathreza during the Culling of Stratholme. During the war against the Lich King, the Kirin Tor sent agents to travel back in time and retrieve the artifact in the hopes of learning more about the dreadlords.[4]

After Mal'Ganis was unmasked as Barean Westwind during the war against the Lich King, he fled through a portal to "the homeworld".[13]

During the assault on Antorus, the Burning Throne, Portal Keeper Hasabel opened a shadowy portal to Nathreza, guarded by the nathrezim Lord Eilgar, to confuse the minds of her enemies.[14]

Trivia[]

  • The warlock player characters' felguard and wrathguard minions once served on (or at least visited) Nathreza.[2]
  • One of Mal'Ganis' talents in Heroes of the Storm is named "Wrath of Nathreza", and in one of his dialogue interactions with Li-Ming (a character from Diablo) he offers to give her access to Nathreza's magical archive if she joins the Legion.

Speculation[]

Questionmark-medium
This article or section includes speculation, observations or opinions possibly supported by lore or by Blizzard officials. It should not be taken as representing official lore.

References[]

 
  1. ^ a b c d e f g World of Warcraft: Illidan, chapter 14, pg. 188 - 190, 197 - 199
  2. ^ a b c N Warlock [35] An Unusual Tome
  3. ^ a b World of Warcraft: Chronicle Volume 3, pg. 138
  4. ^ a b N [80H] Proof of Demise: Mal'Ganis
  5. ^ a b c d e World of Warcraft: Illidan, chapter 18
  6. ^ World of Warcraft: Illidan, chapter 25, pg. 317
  7. ^ a b c d World of Warcraft: Chronicle Volume 3, pg. 148
  8. ^ a b c World of Warcraft: Illidan, chapter 19
  9. ^ Portal Keeper Hasabel#Quotes
  10. ^ Portal Keeper Hasabel#Platform: Nathreza
  11. ^ N [60] Convoy of the Covenants
  12. ^ World of Warcraft: Illidan, chapters 16 - 17
  13. ^ N [25-30G5] The Admiral Revealed: Dreadlord Mal'Ganis yells: ENOUGH! I waste my time here. I must gather my strength on the homeworld.
  14. ^ Portal Keeper Hasabel#Overview
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