Qiraji The qiraji are a race of insectoid creatures in southern Silithus . They once had a large empire . Different types of qiraji are referred to as castes with a life - long occupation and responsibility in society . It seems that every caste has a leader who are under the command of the Twin Emperors : Vek ' nilash and Vek ' lor . The three most notable castes are the battleguards , led by Battleguard Sartura , gladiator s , led by General Rajaxx , and prophet s , led by The Prophet Skeram . The qiraji are able to create servants of living obsidian stone , the obsidian destroyer s , anubisath s , and horusath s . It is assumed that the Battleguards ( the females ) and the Gladiators ( the primary males ) , are the ones who mate . When a Prophet is hatched they do not breed but instead spend their lives under the tutelage of an older Prophet . The Twin Emperors were the first Qiraji made by C ' thun himself . History . Origin . At the ancient continent of Kalimdor ' s center was a mysterious lake of incandescent energies , the Well of Eternity . It was the true heart of the world ' s magic and natural power . From this magical ether the Silithid were born . As the fallen Old God , C ' Thun , recognized their appearance , he attempted to sunder the world that it once held in its unmerciful grasp . The Old God created avatars from the silithid in its own image . These avatars were to be known as aqir . Sapient and with purpose , the aqir worked feverishly to build a force capable of laying waste to the world that would betray their god , with the silithid as their minions . Not long after the troll empires divided the insectoid kingdom of the aqir , the aqir that travelled north would eventually become the race we know as the nerubians today . The aqir that travelled south ransacked and overthrew a titan research station near Uldum , renaming themselves the qiraji and calling their new home Ahn ' Qiraj . The qiraji spent the next thousands of years building an army capable of exacting revenge upon the whole of Kalimdor . The War of the Shifting Sands . Only the night elves , who once inhabited Silithus , stood in their way . The War of the Shifting Sands raged for long , agonizing months . The night elves were always on the defensive , always outnumbered , always being driven back . The whole of Silithus was soon engulfed by the silithid and their qiraji hosts . The night elf army was pushed back through Un ' Goro , to the borders of the Tanaris desert . Out of desperation , the night elven leader Fandral Staghelm sought the aid of the elusive bronze dragonflight . Their initial refusal to interfere was reversed when the brazen qiraji attacked the Caverns of Time , home and province of Nozdormu , the Timeless One . Nozdormu ' s heir , Anachronos , agreed to enlist the bronze dragonflight against the marauding qiraji . Every able - bodied night elf joined the cause , and together they forged a campaign to retake Silithus . Even with the might of the dragons backing them , however , the sheer numbers of the qiraji and silithid proved overwhelming . And so Anachronos called upon the progeny of the remaining flights . Even so , it seemed that the numbers of qiraji and silithid were never - ending . So the dragons and Fandral hatched their final , desperate plan : to contain the qiraji within the city , to erect a barrier that would confine them until a more hopeful stratagem could be devised . With the blessing of Elune the barrier was erected before their eyes , rock and stone and roots from beneath the sands emerging to create an impenetrable wall . Even the winged soldiers who attempted to fly over the barrier met with an invisible obstruction that they could not pass . The qiraji who remained outside the wall were quickly slain . The dragon told Fandral that should any mortal ever wish to pass the magical barrier and access the ancient city , they need only strike the scepter against the gong and the gates would open . He then handed the scepter to the arch - druid . Hoping to contain the threat for all eternity , the arrogant Fandral then broke the scepter , both insulting and angering the bronze dragonflight . His actions that day created a rift between the allies that has existed to this day . Reawakening . The threat posed by the qiraji has thus remained behind its wall for thousands of years . Recently , however , the unmentionable Old God slowly awakened from his slumber beneath Ahn ' Qiraj . Behind the gates of the Scarab Wall , the merciless qiraji stirred once again . Empowered by the Old God , C ' Thun , the qiraji prepared their legions for a worldwide assault to avenge their bitter defeat at the hands of the night elves a thousand years ago . It was discovered that some of the qiraji were finding ways past the wall . Anachronos , the bronze dragon , helped the adventurers of Azeroth open the Scarab Wall to prevent more incursions . The mortal races have now banded together to confront the evil qiraji in their own land . Opening of the Gate . A champion has opened the gate and the Horde and Alliance have driven the armies of the qiraji back into the ruins in retreat . It now falls to heroes to delve into the lair of the qiraji and put an end to their masters once and for all . The Burning Crusade . Harbinger Skyriss is one of the qiraji entities that the naaru kept locked up within the Arcatraz . As a servant of the Old God , he seeks to usher in his master ' s vision of conquering all of the world s in the universe . He corrupted Warden Mellichar into releasing all the prisoners within the Arcatraz . Skyriss indicates that the qiraji may still have a role to play in the universe . Skyriss speaks of the might of the qiraji in the universe , saying " We span the universe , as countless as the stars ! " and also " No force on this world or beyond harbors the strength to bend our knee . . . not even the mighty legion ! " Because there is no reinforcement for this theory , he most likely blusters . With further understanding of the void and the Void Lords in the following expansions , it ' s most likely Skyriss was referring to the influence of these entities . After all , Sargeras created the Burning Legion to defeat the Void Lords , proving that they are a force even the Burning Crusade fears . As a servant of the Old Gods , Skyriss is part of the Void Lord ' s insane army spanning across the universe , so the most logical explanation to it ' s quotes in the Burning Crusade Expansion is that he wasn ' t bluffing about the power of the Qiraji , but just preventing the players that the strongest power around isn ' t the Burning Crusade , but the Void Lords . Culture . The qiraji and their servants wield items made with the rarest and finest materials : bones from gargantuan ancient creatures , gems from the depths of the earth , metals pure and strong . The most powerful qiraji wield items of such might they ' d give pause even to a dragon . The rings worn by the qiraji lieutenants are rumored to grant them formidable abilities . The corrupted gems that adorn them could , in theory , be swapped out with more pure materials to create uncorrupted versions of the rings . It seems to be that female qiraji must constantly keep their face covered .