Codex: The Great Dark Beyond and the Otherworlds
The Great Dark Beyond, also known as the Great Dark, the Great Beyond, the Dark Beyond, or the Cosmos, is described as the physical universe, an infinite realm composed of innumerable stars, worlds, moons, and mortal civilizations. Azeroth is found in it, and it is merely one of the countless worlds drifting through the Great Dark. Its counterpart is the astral plane called the Twisting Nether. It was built and shaped by the First Ones.
The physical universe is governed by the forces of Order and Disorder, while the forces of Life and Death hold sway over every living thing in it. Pure Light and Shadow dwell in a realm outside the borders of reality, but shades of their presence can be found in the Great Dark. The elements serve as the basic building blocks of all matter in the physical universe. The Titans traveled through the Great Dark Beyond, searching for others of their kind.
The first comprehensive research that inhabitants of the Azeroth started into the Great Dark Beyond after the event collectively known as the Great Shift, during which the Fire Islands appeared near the Eastern Kingdoms.
With the advent of the Dark Portal and the invasion by the Burning Legion, research into the Cosmos has started. Mainly, it was conducted by a special research team that was put together by the Mages of Dalaran, Magisterium, and Psijic Order.
Throughout the ages, there were many Interdimensional Travellers who visited Azeroth, but not many remained on the world itself or survived, as they were either killed or perished from old age. One exception is one of the Empresses of the Sacred Phoenix Empire, Irene Belserion, who appeared in Azeroth shortly after the start of the opening of the Dark Portal and the start of the First Dark Portal War.
One of the major driving forces behind the research into the Great Dark Beyond was the Sacred Phoenix Emperor himself, mainly due to the disappearance of his daughter into the spatial crack, which was supposed to be some form of very advanced Dimensional Magic.
The space of the Cosmos is cold and unforgiving and is usually regarded as the playground for the beings of unspeakable names and power. The Burning Legion has been traveling through the Cosmos for an untold number of years, destroying world after world and annihilating one civilization after another.
For many Mages in Azeroth, traveling through the Cosmos while representing grave dangers also represented a great opportunity. To discover knowledge that is unknown, resources that would make even wealthy merchants look like poor peasants, and, most importantly, to learn new forms of Magic and uncover the mysteries of the Arcane.
A prime example of this was and is Empress Irene Belserion, who, after twenty years in Azeroth, became the most powerful Mage that this world has ever produced. Combining her Innate Magic with the Arcane, she achieved levels of power and mastery over Magic that were far above any other previous Guardian of Tirisfall or lofty Magister combined.
After explaining what the Dark Great Beyond is, the next important term is the Otherworld.
Otherworld is a term used to describe the other worlds within the Great Dark Beyond. There are several notable worlds aside from Azeroth in the Great Dark Beyond that played significant roles in recent history.
Be it the world Draenor, the homeworld of the Orcs who invaded Azeroth through the Dark Portal, Argus, the homeworld of the Burning Legion, and an unnamed number of worlds that are located within the Great Dark Beyond. Some were destroyed by the Burning Crusade of the Burning Legion; some were destroyed by other entities that were dwelling in the Cosmos.
- Guideline to the Great Dark Beyond, 1st Edition, Dalaran, Year 21 ADP
***
Imperial Capital Wei-Jin, Fire Nation, Fire Islands, Several Days Later
Several days have passed since the arrival of the delegation from the Quel'Thalas and Ironforge, and for the diplomatic relationship, it was the best course of development as Grand Chancellor Iroh was entertaining the envoys from the Ironforge and the Kingdom of Quel'Thalas.
To properly discuss some things with the leadership of the Fire Nation, both Brann Bronzebeard and Belo'vir Salonar decided to stay in the Fire Nation for another week while sending back home some of their delegates with the findings from the Fire Islands.
Both of the Envoys from their respective kingdoms were rather keen on discovering more information about the Fire Nation and establishing some sort of relationship with the new nation that appeared on Azeroth.
Aenarion was too keen on that aspect, and till now, everything has been going exactly according to plan. The past day was most often filled with having food with the ambassadors from the Ironforge and Quel'Thalas, while he spent most of the time with his wives.
As it was confirmed in which world they were, Aenarion started taking more appropriate steps to handle the situation, and for that, another player came to their attention.
Onmitsukidō.
The secret service of the Fire Nation would be the most important player on the chessboard right now, as Aenariion called all three of his wives to the meeting where they would decide their next steps.
"So, aside from a possible orgy, was there anything important to call us?"
His ever mischievous wife June asked, though not like he was against the idea of orgy, but they were not here for that, no matter how pleasurable it would be. However, Aenarion made a mental note to suggest it in the evening.
"I have a very important mission for the Onmitsukidō that must be carried out in maximal secrecy, and nobody can know about it."
Suddenly, everyone became more serious as a gentle wind flew to the Royal Chambers while they were enjoying their breakfast.
"As you know, there are several human nations in this world. Stormwind in the south is the sole Kingdom in the Azeroth Continent. Then the Kingdoms of Alterac, Gilneas, Lordaeron, Dalaran, Stromgarde in the continent of Lordaeron and the Admiralty of Kul Tiras on the Kul Tiras Archipelago. I need the best infiltrators from the Onmitsukidō to quietly infiltrate these nations, especially Stormwind and Lordaeron, as the strongest human nations in the Eastern Kingdoms. The only Kingdom that we will ignore for the time being is Dalaran; the Magocracy is not suitable for the infiltration unless we can counter their Magical Wards and protections against similar events."
What he needed right now was the information, and there was no one better at gathering the information than the forces of the Onmitsukidō. The human nations of the Eastern Kingdoms were the easiest to infiltrate right now.
Sans Dalaran.
Aeanrion knew that they had tons of Magical defenses and other methods to discover the spies and infiltrators due to their Magic.
He needed to have as much information about the developments in these nations as possible so he could properly and most effectively use his foreknowledge of the future. The priorities were the Lordaeron and Stormwind.
They were the key players among the human nations of the Eastern Kingdoms for one reason or another, though for now, Aenarion planned to focus more on Stormwind.
"That won't be much of a problem."
June knew very well that any infiltration of Dalaran was an impossible task, and it was something that they would do later. She was really interested in how advanced these nations had their spy networks.
Since the rise of the Fire Lord Aenarion, the effort and amount of money that was put into the concept of an "Intelligence Agency" was staggering, truth to be told. She was made head of the Onmitsukidō and had practically unlimited authority within the Fire Nation.
Information was power.
And it was the truth.
"Focus most on the infiltration of the Stormwind and Lordaeron; both of these nations are the powerhouses of this world. Lordaeron has the highest population of all nations in the world, while Stormwind is the military powerhouse, which, despite its lower number, is far more powerful than the Lordaeron Kingdom multiplied by two."
June had already studied as much information as was available to them about the nation of the Eastern Kingdoms, and she too realized that the Storwind was the most powerful out of them all for a variety of reasons.
They had the most developed military-industrial complex, and while their standing army was smaller than that of the Lordaeron Kingdom, it was far superior in terms of training, skills, experience, and equipment.
Another fact was that the Stormwind had far more area to expand, so they had the potential to grow, and unlike the northern nations that were in the continent of Lordaeron, the Stormwindians didn't have such a district or outright dislike of the Magic.
They even incorporated Magic into their military.
Their Magic Regiments were rather famous across the entire Eastern Kingdoms and were considered elite combat forces, and many compared them to the quality of Dalaran's own Magic Regiments.
However, though it wasn't really a fair comparison, because Dalaran had possibilities for Magical development that were not comparable to that of the Stormwind.
Dalaran was the center of the human Mages in the entire Azeroth, and almost all people who knew Magic came from Dalaran.
"It seems to be doable... though the Stormwind would be a bit more problematic due to their apparent militaristic nature that is very close to us. Any additional missions for the Onmitsukidō?"
As the Supreme Commander of the Onmitsukidō, June knew the most about the situation on Azeroth since the arrival of the foreign delegates. Lordaeron and Stormwind were the prime targets for the Onmitsukidō, due to their significance on the global stage.
"Yes. Try to look for the talented people who have fallen and help them. We can possibly recruit them to the Fire Nation. Right now, there are many advantages that the Fire Nation has over the nations in the Eastern Kingdoms, but there are even more disadvantages. One Archmage is more than enough to wipe out a significant portion of soldiers and even the armored divisions on the battlefield."
Aenarion was aware of the power that the Archmages and Magisters commanded on the field, and it was nothing short of the extraordinary.
"According to the Grand Magister Belo'vir Salonar, there is an entire Level System according to what the people are classified based on their strength. Starting from the ordinary Mortal Level, which is reserved for the ordinary people without access to Magic or anything, yet even the average peasant is twice as strong as a trained soldier in the Fire Nation's Military due to the long-term effects of Magic."
This was new information for all.
For the people present, it was clear that the natives of Azeroth were much stronger than those in their old world, which was attributed to the heavily dense Magic in the environment, which was basically strengthening them.
For Aenarion, this was a new thing because it was a clear distinction between the Lore of World of Warcraft and the world where he was. However, it sounded logical that a world that was magically so advanced would have some sort of classification for the people in their world.
"Above that, you have Elite Level; this is basically the standard Level for the trained troops and ordinary Mages. Apparently, it is very wide and could range from the power of an ordinary Mage to a properly trained Battle Mage or Elite Warrior. Even weak Mages could, with their spells, destroy whole buildings with some effort, while the trained Battle Mages could achieve a much higher degree of destruction."
Aenarion knew that Magic was the lifeblood of Azeroth, and now he understood the terror of the powerful Mages. He feared that if not for the weird occurrence when their Chi started getting tremendously stronger after the Great Shift, that the Fire Nation would be conquered by the other nations in this world.
In the end, the disparity was too great.
Before the Great Shift, the strongest person in the Fire Nation, which was either him, Azula, Esdeath, Prince Iroh, Bai Qi, or Commander of the Phoenix Guard, Jiang Wei, was around the peak of the Elite Level.
Which, while being a considerable achievement, was really far from the true heavy hitters in the Azeroth.
"We need to search for the people with the potential to become Heroes or Champions... at any cost, we need to shorten the gap between the Fire Nation and the Eastern Kingdoms in the aspect of powerful experts. An average Archmage or Magister is classified as the Hero Level, and even they would be more than enough to turn an entire armored division into a scrap if they carried out a successful ambush. Fortunately, even for the Eastern Kingdoms, such people are not that common."
Hero Level was the category of the true heavy-hitters that were the backbone of every single faction in Azeroth. The Hero Warriors were able to fight for entire days, and their physical power was enough to shatter huge sturdy rocks with a wave of their hands, while Mages on that Level could turn entire towns into ash.
Champions were considered the true pinnacle of Azeroth. They were the pioneers of the faction and species, broke through the shackles of their very own race, and were immensely powerful.
They could single-handedly decide the fate of a nation if they wished.
"Hmm... that seems to be doable... but according to the information we know, Stormwind has one confirmed Champion in the form of Medivh the Guardian, but according to the Grand Magister, the full power of the Guardian is able to reach an even greater Level. And Lordaeron has, on the other hand, Archbishop Alonsus Faol, another Champion Hero Level individual."
Dalaran was home to at least one publicly known Champion Hero Level Archmage, and the situation of Quel'Thalas was even more complicated due to the Sunwell that was supplying the High Elves with an almost infinite amount of Magic.
"In this regard, try to focus more on the Lordaeron. According to the Grand Magister, the people of the largest human kingdom don't really like Mages too much. Most of the people with an aptitude for the Magic either depart for Dalaran or remain as hedge mages for their whole lives. We are aiming to recruit these people."
Aenarion planned to implement the Dogma of Assimilation, where the Fire Nation would be assimialting the people from the Eastern Kingdoms that were either abandoned or discarded by the Eastern Kingdom to bolster their forces.
"Hmm... the elves mentioned a rather strong discontent among the locals of the north towards the Magic users. We could be rather successful there, but I don't see much possibility in Stormwind. The attitude of the Stormwind toward the Mages is very good, also due to the so dogmatic approach of the Church of Holy Light."
The Church of the Holy Light was once again something that was giving him a headache.
Founded centuries ago in Lordaeron, the Church spread its faith through the Seven Kingdoms, and constructed temples, shrines, and churches throughout the far-flung human lands as places of worship, with a hierarchy of religious leaders to oversee its devoted followers, as its philosophy and sacred teachings also managed to spread throughout the societies of the high elves, dwarves, and gnomes.
Aenarion knew that the Church of the Holy Light was worshipping Naaru, the heights from the Great Dark Beyond, and embodiments of the Light as one of the Cosmic Forces that were the building block of the Cosmos.
Right now, the Church of the Holy Light has relatively strong political power in the human nations, but after the Dark Portal Wars, their power skyrocketed with the establishment of the Paladin Orders, which stemmed from the creation of the Paladin Class.
The warriors of the Holy Light performed extraordinary feats, using the Holy Light as their strongest weapon and most powerful shield. Aenarion needed to take into account the religious aspect because once the relationship with the human nations were established, he was sure that the Faith of the Holy Light would spread into the Fire Nation.
It was inevitable.
"How do you want to deal with the Church of the Holy Light? Their intervention in the Fire Nation could pose a threat."
Azula voiced her thoughts because, as the former Crown Princess of the Fire Nation, she was politically most educated among his wives and thus was most knowledgeable about this and knew the power of the religion.
Right now, the official state religion of the Fire Nation was the worship of the Elements.
Due to the Bending Culture and the importance of the Spirits in their old world, they were worshipping the elements corresponding to their Bending Element. The Fire Nation worshipped the Fire Spirits, the Earth Kingdom, the Earth Spirits, the Water Tribes, the Water Spirit and Moon Spirit, and the Air Nomads worshipped the Air Spirit.
And all of this centered around the worship of the Great Spirits in the Spirit Realm. After Aenarion became the Fire Lord, a new religion was introduced that merged this together with the worship of the Asuryan, the Phoenix God.
His Patron God reincarnated him in the world of Avatar and gave him his Blessing, with the Aenarion being the Head of the Religious Authority officially due to him being the chosen one of the Asuryan.
"The Church of the Holy Light is impossible to counter directly and even indirectly. Contrary to most religions, the philosophy of the Holy Light boils down to the three teachings, called the Three Virtues. These virtues—respect, tenacity, and compassion—are each defined into a principle and a lesson. Acting on these three tenets helps make the world a place everyone can appreciate, a world of honor and justice. These virtues are followed and applied by all members of the Church, but also by those who follow the teachings loosely. Not to mention, the Church's clergy is renowned for spreading goodness. They perform many activities on a daily basis and are mainly present in places of worship, such as churches and temples, which provide a place where priests can commune with the people of the land. As the general ideology of the Light is to strive to be good in all actions, the priests must always show themselves worthy of serving the Light and never forget the virtues that make them what they are. One could say that the Church of the Holy Light is a very tolerant and compassionate religion that will instantly gain the favor of ordinary people."
Aenarion stated what he had learned about the Holy Light from the Envoys and his own knowledge of the canon. He was aware that blocking the spread of the Church of the Holy Light was futile and would create far more problems than it was worth.
"So we are going to need a way to cultivate our own branch... preferably mix it with the worship of the Phoenix God. One of the primary aspects of the Phoenix God aside from the Fire is also the Light..."
The Fire Lord looked at his Queen and nodded in agreement with the statement.
The Asuryani Pantheon that was being worshipped by the Fire Nation's population on the Aenarion's efforts already had several Gods. Not many people knew why Aenarion was such a religious person and strictly pushed for religious reforms since he became Fire Lord.
Aside from Azula, Esdeath, and June, nobody knew.
All of them were aware that he was the person who was chosen by the faded Gods to reincarnate in their world to revive the Aeldari Pantheon. The task that was entrusted to him was one that he would carry out with utmost duty and devotion to repay the opportunity that he was given.
The Gods of the Aeldari Pantheon were the ones that gave him a new chance to live and live a fulfilling life, and the only thing that they wanted was worship so they could revive after they had faded.
The God-King of the Pantheon, known as the Phoenix-God and associated with the Element of Fire and Light, Asuryan, the Phoenix God. He was the main God of the Pantheon and his strongest backer, who gave Aenarion many Blessings and knowledge on the Fire Bending. He was also associated with the Sun, Creation and named as Emperor of Heavens.
Kaela Mensha Khaine, the God of War whose worship was most prevalent among the armed forces of the Fire Nation. He was the God of the War, Courage and Strategy, he embodied the physical valor necessary for the success in war, but also the military strategy and generalship.
Cegorach, the God of Tricksters, also known as the "Laughing God", the "Great Harlequin", the "Great Fool" and the "First Fool", was a consummate trickster and the artist of the Aeldari gods. He was the patron of the Assassins, Rogues and those who moved in the shadows.
Isha, the Goddess of the Harvest and Fertility. Associated with the Elements of Air and Water. The Great Mother of the Fire Nation and giver of Life and prosperity. She was also considered the Goddess of Nature and Bountiful Land, the protector of the natural order.
Ynnead, the God of the Dead, called "Whispering God", a dream, the embodiment of a possibility that has yet to be fully realized.
Vaul, the God of Forges and God associated with the Element of Earth and Fire. His additional domains were God of Smiths and Artifice.
And finally, the Morai-Heg, the Crone, the Goddess of Fate and Souls.
Aenarion knew that these were the Aeldari Gods from the Warhammer Universe, though he didn't know from what side of it, if it was the 40k or Fantasy. He only knew that he was chosen to bring them back from the fade, in the reality that was untouched by the Ruinous Powers.
He incorporated a lot of the religious customs and elements from the worship of Elements in the world of Avatar into that of the Aeldari Pantheon that he was creating so he could convert the people more easily.
And he knew that the stronger the Gods became, the greater rewards he would obtain because it seemed that this time, the Gods were no longer passive, which led them to their death and oblivion to the She-Who-Thirsts, but they were actively meddling in the Fire Nation.
Performing miracles with their Divine Powers and rewarding the loyal followers with the Blessings of Power and Knowledge.
"That could work... Even though, in most cases, the Church of the Holy Light is apolitical and neutral, it still commands huge respect and political power among the common people. This is the situation we need to avoid and retain control over all of the religious aspects in the Fire Nation by the Septim Dynasty. Also... tomorrow, we are going to pass the Religious Reform and establishment of the Church of the Aeldari to consolidate the religious practices all over the Fire Nation and have a proper structure of the religious worship."
This was something that all of them agreed on.
Especially Azula, who wasn't really thrilled that somebody or something could obtain influence in their kingdom.
"Also, in regard to the spread of the Holy Light, I think that I have the perfect solution. Not long ago, I got the revelation from the Goddess of Fate Morai-Heg about a perfect candidate for that position. In the future, a man by the name Benedictus would be the key..."
Aenarion said as he knew that Benedictus would indeed fall and would be corrupted by the Old Gods. It happened around the time of the invasion of Outland. The sinister Twilight's Hammer Cult spread throughout every major city on Azeroth to recruit others to their cause, particularly traumatized survivors of the Third War.
The cultists learned of Benedictus' uncertainty and flocked to him under the guise of believers of the Holy Light in need of guidance. In truth, they slowly but surely whittled away at what was left of the archbishop's beliefs.
And ironically, he really got the divination from the Morai-Heg about him being the key of assimialting the teachings of the Church of the Holy Light into his own needs and creating a new branch of the Holy Light with the Asuryan being the Avatar of Light.
By recruiting Benedictus, they would deny the Twilight Hammer Cult and Old God one of their greatest Champions, and at the same time, the Fire Nation would obtain someone with extremely high potential.
"Right now, he should be an apprentice to the Archbishop of the Church of the Holy Light, Alonsus Faol."
At least right now, Benedictus was still the disciple of the Archbishop Alonsus Faol who was right now in his prime age. The average lifespan of the humans in the world was Avatar was very similar to that of the humans of Earth, yet the lifespan of humans in Azeroth was longer.
It wasn't uncommon for people to live up to age one hundred, and the people here were generally healthier. Even when one compares the elderly, the elderly people of Azeroth were in much better conditions and health.
And the stronger they were, the higher prospects they had to live even past the age of one hundred, but that was limited only to the powerful warriors and experts.
"I will take a note of it during the mission to Lordaeron."
June, as the head of the Onmitsukidō, took note of this as it would be her task to scout and recruit people with the potential to come to the Fire Nation. She wanted to go ahead and even go for the local Dwarves and Gnomes that lived in Stormwind or in the other human nations.
While the other human nations were not racists towards these species per se, that would be lie, but at the same time, they were not really prospering among the human nations, especially in the northern continent of Lordaeron.
From the power and skills that the Dwarves and Gnomes commanded, June was aware that they were expert blacksmiths and engineers. Not to mention, the Dwarves were famous for their unbreakable loyalty towards the people who had earned their loyalty, which was another bonus perk.
"Do you have any further instructions for the Onmitsukidō, or is this all?"
The Supreme Commander of the Onmitsukidō asked as she looked at her husband, who was happily eating now that he pushed a shitton of work on her.
"No. This is enough. Aside from the standard orders of gathering knowledge, I will increase funding for the Onmitsukidō on this task."
This was already decided on the last meeting of the Elder Council that, aside from the recruitment and espionage purposes and information gathering that the Onmitsukidō would do in the Eastern Kingdoms, they would be tasked with the procurement of Magical knowledge of all kinds.
Not only that, but Alchemy and other types of knowledge could also be helpful for the development of the Fire Nation. For that, the Elder Council has decided to relieve a lot of funds because it would be costly.
Even though Aenarion wanted to exchange knowledge with the High Elves and perhaps persuade some Magisters from the Quel'Thalas to align themselves with the Fire Nation and spread Magic here, it would take some time.
To speed up the process and not depend just on one source of learning Magic, Aenarion and the Elder Council decided to order the agents of the Onmitsukidō to buy the knowledge from the Eastern Kingdoms.
Due to how developed the Magic was in Azeroth, they were sure that there would be some places that would be selling some Tomes, Grimoires, and Books on the Magic, at least on the Introductory and Basic Level.
Who knows, maybe they would be lucky to come across even something advanced. Aenarion also had another goal, which was to lower the gap by their own means as much as possible, which would be beneficial in their trade and negotiations about the Magic with the Quel'Thalas in the future.
"How much?"
Her eyes instantly shone when she heard that the Onmitsukidō would get an increased budget for this operation. As the former mercenary, June loved money, and even though she now lived a life where there was no need for anything, as everything would be provided to her with a single word, she still loved money.
"A lot. If you can procure some really precious and advanced books on Magic that would allow us to lay down the foundation of the Magical Civilizations without the interference of the High Elves, opening the Reserves is not without question."
Under the Aenarion's rule, the Fire Nation was filthy rich. Not from the trade, because well...
They were at war against anyone, but countless reformers increased the tax revenue and lowered government spending because they were spending their money only in the most efficient way and from the plunder.
The generational wealth of the Fire Clans that were exterminated ended in the Royal State Reserves, together with the wealth plundered from the Earth Kingdom and Northern Water Tribe.
Especially the one from the Earth Kingdom, which had a staggering amount of gold and precious metals or gems. With the addition of the Earthbenders to the forces of the Fire Nation, they were able to use them to locate precious ores and gems.
"We are on the verge of great change, and the fact that we are in this world could be both a blessing and a curse. This world is far more powerful, and even though the four of us are powerful, compared to the true powerhouses of Azeroth, we are nothing but a bit more powerful warriors, but nothing more."
And that was publicly known information.
Aenarion knew that even though the Champion Level was publicly known as the strongest Level right now, there were many people who far exceeded that. Like Aegwyn, the former Guardian of Tirisfal, Medivh, the current Guardian of Tirisfal, who was secretly a Demigod due to being possessed by Sargeras and many others...