The wind howled across the endless dunes, carrying with it the stench of blood and charred flesh. The sands, once golden beneath the scorching sun, were now stained dark with the remnants of war. Corpses lay scattered, broken weapons half-buried beneath the shifting dunes.
Khadag, the Breaker of Hosts, stood atop a dune, his hulking frame silhouetted against the dying embers of the battlefield. His heavy great sword, still slick with gore, rested upon his shoulder as he surveyed the land.
"This land is ours now," he growled. His voice was deep, commanding—a voice that had led thousands into war, and only hundreds out.
The warriors of his tribe—a force of hardened orcish veterans, scarred and bloodied, yet unbroken—let out a guttural cheer. Their victory was absolute. The war was over, and the strong had prevailed. Now came the task of claiming their spoils.
Khadag raised his hand. "Begin the work! This shall be our camp, the first stone of our new dominion!"
His warriors moved at once, scavenging the corpses of their enemies. The fallen clans—Black Sun Clan, Priest of the Deep Sun, Sorcerers of the East, Sand Surfers, Iron Foot—had fought to the last. Their warriors lay with throats slit, skulls caved in, or bodies still smoldering from spellfire.
There was no burial for the dead. Only fire. The orcs stripped weapons, armor, trinkets, and supplies from the fallen before tossing the lifeless bodies onto a great pyre. The flames roared, black smoke curling into the night sky. A funeral not of honor, but of necessity.
Some warriors laughed, tearing flesh from the bones of their enemies, roasting them over open flames. Others worked in silence, driving stakes into the sand, erecting crude tents from the hides of slain beasts.
Khadag strode through the growing encampment, his eyes glowing with savage satisfaction.
The night thickened, swallowing the battlefield in a suffocating darkness. The ember-stained sands had cooled, and even the orcs—hardened by war, accustomed to hardship—succumbed to exhaustion, collapsing one by one into restless sleep.
But Khadag did not sleep. He sat by the dying fires, his sword resting against his knee, his eyes locked on the vast emptiness beyond the camp. Waiting. Waiting for him. Then, it came.
A shape emerged from the dunes—a creature unlike any beast of the living world. It moved like a horse, yet its legs bent the wrong way, jointed like a spider's. Its hide shimmered with a sickly, oily sheen, pulsing with veins of molten gold. Its eyes burned like twin suns, hollow and endless. The Khuurga had arrived.
Upon its back sat a figure cloaked in shadow and bone. His robes were tattered, stitched together from the skins of fallen foes, adorned with charms of teeth and shattered runes. His face—if he had one—remained obscured beneath the leering skull of a desert beast, adorned with spiraling black tattoos.
His name was Rhazhak the Ash-Tongue. The Khuurga's hooves made no sound as it trotted closer, the air around it thickening, growing hotter, warping like the heat of a forge. The shamans grinned—both rider and beast—as though they had always known they would come. Because Khadag would win.
Khadag rose, gripping his sword.
"You are late."
Rhazhak chuckled, his voice a dry whisper, like wind through hollow bones.
"Time bends for victors, Khadag. And you… you are the harbinger of what comes next."
The Khuurga snorted, its breath curling into thick, sulfurous smoke. The air shuddered, and the sands beneath it trembled. Khadag exhaled, looking between the beast and its rider.
Khadag stood firm, his eyes locked onto Rhazhak. The night carried an unnatural silence, as if the desert itself held its breath. "Begin the ritual."
Rhazhak, the Ash-Tongue, needed no further command. He dismounted the Khuurga, his skeletal robes swaying with each step. The air around him grew heavy, thick with unseen energy.
He raised his arms and began to chant:
يا عظيما سقط في الرمال المنسية، انهض من نومك الأبدي!
(Ya 'aziman saqata fi al-ramal al-mansiyah, inhad min nawmika al-abadi!)
أيها العظام المتحجرة، دعوني أضعف قيدكم، عودوا إلى الأرض أحياء!
(Ayyuha al-'izam al-mutahajjirah, da'uni ad'uf qaydikum, 'udu ila al-ard ahya'!)
بدماء المنتصرين، أتحداك أن تستيقظ!
(Bidima' al-muntasirin, atahaddak an tastayqiz!)
As the final words left his lips, Rhazhak bent and pressed his palm to the sand. The earth shuddered. Dark purple veins spread from beneath his hand, slithering through the dunes like serpents of shadow. The glow intensified, pulsing, beating like a second heartbeat beneath the surface. Then—the dunes cracked open. And they began to rise.
From the depths of time, long before the rise of mortals, behemoths once ruled these lands. Now, their skeletal remains—twisted, cursed, reforged in dark sorcery—shook off their burial sands and clawed their way back into the world.
1. Zhurakh'kaan
Size: 120 meters (394 feet) long
Appearance: A colossal, skeletal theropod, its skull split down the center, revealing rows of jagged, serrated teeth that endlessly shift in and out of its maw. Its tail drips with black ichor, and four hollow eye sockets glow with violet fire.
Ability:Stormcaller's Roar – When it bellows, it sends shockwaves strong enough to level mountains.
2. Thag'ruul
Size: 140 meters (460 feet) long
Appearance: A serpentine, wingless dragon, with a skull too large for its body, giving it an eerie, distorted appearance. Its ribcage expands and contracts unnaturally, as though still breathing.
Ability:Void Maw – Devours light itself, plunging battlefields into an unnatural darkness.
3. Varnag-Thul
Size: 180 meters (590 feet) tall
Appearance: A towering, six-legged monstrosity, resembling a fusion between a sauropod and a centipede, with twisted, branching antlers made of fused bones. Its limbs end in jagged claws, scraping deep trenches into the ground with each step.
Ability:Pestilence Shroud – A cloud of necrotic spores follows its steps, rotting the flesh of all who breathe it.
4. Hadrak'Mor
Size: 90 meters (295 feet) long
Appearance: Resembling a colossal undead mastodon, its twin tusks are each the length of a warship, adorned with ritualistic carvings of ancient horrors. Its eye sockets burn with black fire.
Ability:Charge of the Unbroken – When it charges, earthquakes split the ground beneath it.
5. Zhae'Korr
Size: 100 meter (328-foot) wingspan
Appearance: A skeletal pterosaur-like creature, with leathery wings stretched across spindly, elongated bones. Its jaw unhinges unnaturally wide, and it has clawed tendrils that writhe from its ribcage.
Ability:Screech of the Banshee – A sonic wail that shatters armor and ruptures organs.
6. Ka'Thraal
Size: 70 meters (230 feet) tall
Appearance: A skeletal triceratops-like behemoth with three spiraled, jagged horns and a tattered bony frill covered in ancient sigils.
Ability:Horn of Despair – Every time it charges, the air itself trembles, inducing mind-breaking fear in all who stand before it.
7. Rash'Zaath)
Size: 150 meters (492 feet) long
Appearance: A serpentine marine beast, its skeletal form wrapped in chains of burning metal, dragging the weight of its past like an eternal punishment.
Ability:Hellfire Wake – Every movement it makes leaves behind a blazing inferno.
8. Var'Zhul
Size: 60 meters (197 feet) long
Appearance: A theropod-like skeleton, its ribs fused into jagged spikes, with tattered shadows clinging to its bones like flesh.
Ability:Shadowmeld – It phases in and out of reality, making it impossible to track.
9. Na'Thuun
Size: 80 meters (262 feet) tall
Appearance: A fused amalgamation of countless smaller raptors, each limb ending in razor-sharp talons that act independently of one another.
Ability:Torn Asunder – It splits itself apart into hundreds of smaller creatures, overwhelming its prey.
10. Tzarak-Nul
Size: 250 meters (820 feet) long
Appearance: A serpentine monstrosity, its jaws lined with rows upon rows of endless, grinding teeth. Its spinal column writhes like a living centipede, as though it is still evolving even in undeath.
Ability:Eternal Hunger – It grows larger with every soul it consumes.
The dunes shook violently as the Fallen rose, their skeletal frames illuminated by the cursed glow of Rhazhak's magic. Their howls, screeches, and roars filled the air, a chorus of death reverberating across the desert.
Khadag stepped forward, grinning with savage satisfaction. "This," he rumbled, "is how a kingdoms dies."
The ground quaked, the air thickened with dust, and the very mountains of Ember Sands split apart.
The orcish warriors, hardened by years of battle, stirred from their sleep—only to freeze in terror. Even the mightiest among them, those who had bathed in the blood of a thousand foes, found their hands trembling. Khadag gritted his teeth, his breath shallow as he watched the nightmare rise.
Rhazhak stood in the center of the ritual, grinning like a mad prophet witnessing the end of the world. He lifted his arms, the cursed energy swirling around him like a storm.
Then, the land erupted. A shape tore free from its prison of stone and sand, its sheer immensity blocking out the stars. The final beast. The Walking Graveyard.
Zhul'Goraak, the Bastion of the Fallen
Size: 600 meters (1,970 feet) long, 350 meters (1,150 feet) tall
Appearance: A titanic fusion of prehistoric horrors. A massive Tyrannosaurus-like head, but with two curved, obsidian-black horns protruding from its temples. Its eye sockets burn with violet fire. Armored like an Ankylosaur, its back a near-impenetrable fortress of jagged, fused bone plates. Towering Stegosaur-like plates, cracked and glowing with runic sigils, lined its back like the battlements of a cursed citadel. A monstrous hybrid, its end split between a spiked Thagomizer and a club the size of a warship. Draconic, four in total—two massive, skeletal wings and two smaller ones beneath, assisting its terrible lift. Upon its colossal armored shell, dozens of the other Fallen Beasts stood, as if they were mere parasites riding upon their master.
Khadag took an instinctive step back. His grip on his sword tightened until his knuckles whitened. Even he—Breaker of Hosts, Slayer of Kings—felt the primal fear clawing at his spine.
The orcish army behind him stood paralyzed, watching the beast shatter the landscape with every movement. A titan. A god of death. A walking extinction event.
Khadag swallowed, his voice barely above a whisper. "What… in the seven hells… is that?"
Rhazhak, his skeletal grin wider than ever, stepped closer. He did not answer immediately. He let the moment stretch, savoring the terror.
Then, he whispered the name, his voice like a curse carried on the wind. "Zhul'Goraak… the Bastion of the Fallen."
And as the name left his lips—Zhul'Goraak roared. The very skies trembled. The skies burned with violet fire as Zhul'Goraak's roar split the heavens.
The quake of its voice awakened the remaining dead. From the shattered bones of the past, more titans rose. Their forms, twisted by necromancy, defied nature itself.
And then, in a terrifying wave, the creatures that had clung to Zhul'Goraak's armored hideleaped down, landing with the force of falling meteors. Each one was a nightmare reborn. The Beasts That Fell From Zhul'Goraak:
1. Raak'Thal
Size: 180 meters (590 feet) long
Appearance: Resembles an elongated, multi-jawed Spinosaurus with a triple-layered mouth, its teeth serrated and constantly dripping black ichor.
Its eyes are hollow sockets, yet it senses life through vibrations in the sand.
Rows of bony dorsal fins, like scattered shark fins, rise along its back.
Its tail splits into three whip-like tendrils, each ending in a bone harpoon.
Abilities: Can swallow entire platoons whole, its stomach a writhing pit of endless hunger.
When hunting, it vanishes beneath the sands, leaving only its fins cutting through the surface like a great serpent.
2. Ul'Zhaar
Size: 80 meters (260 feet) wingspan
Appearance: A skeletal Therizinosaurus, its massive claws burning with spectral flame.
Six tattered wings, blackened as if burnt by an eternal fire. Its body emits constant embers, leaving a trail of smoldering ash wherever it flies.
Where its heart should be, a glowing furnace pulses with necrotic energy.
Abilities: Resurrects from its own ashes every time it is slain, reforming in a burst of flame. Exhales black fire that burns the soul rather than the flesh.
3. Khaav'Zur
Size: 50 meters (165 feet) long
Appearance: Resembles a featherless Deinonychus, but with four legs instead of two. Its skull is elongated, with four rows of sharp, interlocking fangs. Translucent, milky-white eyes stare blankly into the void.
Its ribcage is cracked open, revealing a second, shriveled face inside.
Abilities: Moves between shadows, appearing and vanishing in an instant.
When it kills, it absorbs the memories of its victims, whispering them back in the voice of the dead.
4. Xul'Gar
Size: 90 meters (295 feet) tall
Appearance: A massive, bloated Paraceratherium, its skin sagging and torn, revealing blackened bones underneath.
Its mouth is split open sideways, forming a grotesque, vertical maw. Hollowed eye sockets drip with a constant stream of thick, black pus. Carries a swarm of flesh-eating insects that live within its rotting flesh.
Abilities: Its breath spreads a necrotic plague, rotting anything it touches.
Flies surround it in a cloud, devouring the flesh of anything nearby.
5. Gral'Thuun
Size: 200 meters (655 feet) wingspan
Appearance: A massive skeletal Quetzalcoatlus, but with six wings and a spiked tail resembling a scorpion's stinger.
Its beak is filled with jagged, uneven teeth, despite its original species having none.
Its bones are laced with cursed iron, making it far heavier than a natural flyer.
Abilities: Creates storms wherever it flies, covering the battlefield in permanent darkness. Shrieks cause paralysis, rendering prey helpless before devouring them.
6. Zaah'Karn
Size: 300 meters (985 feet) long
Appearance: A gigantic Titanoboa-like snake, but with spikes running along its entire spine. Its mouth unhinges like a bottomless pit, revealing rows upon rows of rotating teeth. Its underbelly is covered in molten runes, pulsing like a second heartbeat.
Abilities: Moves through the earth like water, vanishing and reappearing at will. Constricts entire fortresses, crushing them like paper.
7. Xhraal
Size: 100 meters (330 feet) tall
Appearance: A theropod resembling a Giganotosaurus, but its body is made entirely of black mist and bones.
Its head splits into three when it roars, revealing a bottomless abyss instead of a throat. No legs—instead, it floats above the ground, its lower body trailing off into smoke.
Abilities: Absorbs light, creating darkness wherever it goes. Eats souls instead of flesh, consuming victims from the inside out.
As these seven new terrors landed, the orcish armies collapsed in fear. Even the strongest among them knew they could never defeat such abominations.
Khadag, still gripping his axe, turned toward Rhazhak, his voice filled with awe—and dread. "What have you done, shaman?"
Rhazhak only laughed. "I have opened the gates, Breaker of Hosts. And now... we can march on the living."
Above them, Zhul'Goraak's fiery gaze turned toward the distant horizon.