Ryun'eh

**Ryun'eh** also known as the *Master* by his followers, was one of the Old Gods of Azeroth. An entity of vast hatred and rage, he bent his void magic into the forms of shadow fire and lava, and was responsible for bending the will of Ragneros to the service of the *Black Empire.*

Ryun'eh was defeated by *Dawn Terimidias* and the Argent *Dawn Squad 6*.

## Biography

### The Black Empire

Countless millennia ago, the Old Gods, Ryun'eh among them, arrived on Azeroth. There, with the help of their n'raqi and aqiri spawn, they established their mighty Black Empire and enslaved the chaotic elementals, who had previously been the world's only inhabitants.

One day, the godlike titans happened upon Azeroth. Vowing to cleanse the planet of the Old Gods and saving its world-soul from the eldritch beings' malign influence, the titans crafted the titan-forged from the planet's crust to destroy the Black Empire. The titan-forged succeeded in imprisoning the Elemental Lords and defeating most of the aqir, but after the titans saw the catastrophic effect that the Old God Y'Shaarj's death had on the planet, they ordered their creations to imprison the remaining Old Gods rather than killing them. Ryun'eh proved to be one of the more difficult of the Old Gods to contain which his void-fire servants being capable of melting the titan forged. He was eventually defeated.

After Ryun'eh's defeat, the Titans rose the ground around Ryun'eh into a vast mountain range, and imprisoned him in an elaborate fortress of Ice. A contingent of Titan Forged was left to maintain the ice prison to ensure he did not escape.

### Rise of Ryun'eh

Thousands of years later, after the curse of flesh had turned the Titan Forged guardians into the Dwarves. Ryun'eh had been slowly burning out of his prison, causing the Dwarves to relocate beneath another mountain, dubbed the Black Mountain. There they founded the *Red Caverns*. The Prison containing Ryun'eh was melted away and destroyed.

With Ryun'eh free, he caused turmoil and unrest upon the ancient humans that had settled around the base of his mountain. The mountain would erupt large plumes of shadowy ash, which decended upon the soil, killing all crops and plant life. Those who inhaled the smoke, turned maddened and fell to the Old God's whispers.

The Ancient human settlers petitioned the spirits for aid, and drew the attention of **Virgil**.

### Ryun'eh's Second Defeat

Virgil instructed the ancient humans on tactics of warfare and imbued weapons that could harm Ryun'eh's voidfire servants. These humans dubbed themselves the *Knights of Virgil*.

The Humans, Red Cavern Dwarves, and even Trolls, banded together to fight the minions of Ryun'eh. The Battle raged for days until the coalition secured the core of the mountain where Ryun'eh resided. In a display of Light, chronicled as a great song, the entire mountain was reduced to dust, and the world cried great tears for the sacrifices of the mortals who had perished. The end result was a great lake, later named Lake Lordamere. The humans carved the story of the battle into the walls of *Abagail Shrine*. The display of the Light would also cause the Humans in the region to become incredibly devoted to the worship of the Light.

Virgil, knowing the Old God was not yet dead, manipulated the humans into the creation of a fortress, Fenris Keep, which would sit upon the islands of Lordamere Lake and ensure the threat did not return. This group of warriors would eventually become the *Knights of Fenris*.

### Second Rise of Ryun'eh

Ryun'eh survived the destruction of his mountain, becomming trapped below Lordamere Lake. Over time, his influence managed to creep up to the surface, once inducing a plague which festered forth from Lordamere Lake and creating the *Bog Beasts*.

When the poverty struck humans of Lordaeron carved out the Undercity from the sewers of Capital City, Ryun'eh was able to whisper and influence the desperate humans. These humans would go onto form the *Servants Cult* in service of Ryun'eh, who secretly worked to free the Old God and carried out his wishes.

When Azeroth fell into Chaos during the Second War, Ryun'eh fed upon the chaos, death and suffering caused by the war. Seeking further chaos, Ryun'eh whispered to the imprisoned Orgrim Doomhammer in the Undercity and allowed for his speedy escape. Hoping he would raise the Horde once more and cause further chaos.

During the Scourging of Lordaeron, Ryun'eh once again fed from the suffering of the mortals. As Ryun'eh's power grew so did his ability to influence the mortals. The ground in Tirisfal also began to secrete a green gas or ash, turning the sky green.

#### The Time to Rise

Following the failed Scourge Invasion of Azeroth, Ryun'eh not only had gained more power from the evident chaos, but also saw the best oppertunity to rise once more and destroy the weakened forces of the mortal races. *The Servants Cult* returned from hiding, and intensified their operations. They crafted a base of operations in a cave close to Abagail Village.

Sensing the Old God's Awakening, the Twilight's Hammer Cult, lead by Cho'gall, arrived from Silithus and formed a pact with the Servants Cult. The Twilight's Hammer devoted their resources to digging a tunnel into Ryun'eh's chamber.

Virgil, having predicted the Old God's return long ago, set his plans into motion. Raising an Army of Fenris Soldiers and Knights, he moved to secure Ryun'eh's chamber from the cultists and placed a time-ward over the Fenris Islands, delaying Ryun'eh's rise. Time inside the ward would move more slowly than the time outside.

Virgil and his army were a massive obstacle to Ryun'eh, and he dispatched the Servants Cult to Alterac to raise a vast army of void undead (Ogres, Orcs and Humans) which could then sail to Fenris and wipe out Virgil's forces. This plan was thwarted by Andrew Ferrule and Calia Menethil who wiped out the Cult at Redbridge, while Dawn Terimidias lead the *Knightguard* and a coalition of allies on Alterac City and wiped out Ryun'eh's Shadowridge Ogre clan.

While the Servants sought to raise an army in Alterac, Ryun'eh had directed Cho'gall and the Twilight's Hammer to raise an army in Tirisfal, from a mass second war burial site containing thousands of Orcish corpses. The site however was concealed by holy wards and it's location only known to Bishop Romley. The Twilight's succeeded in finding Romley and arrived at the burial site, known as the Valley of Tears, hidden deep in Tirisfal's mountains. There they raised thousands of Orcs, Ogres and Trolls and even some Red Dragons. Kel'Thuzad and the Scourge attempted to also raise some of the Undead but were forced to retreat. Cho'gall dubbed his new force, *The Void Horde.*

The Void Horde decended upon Tirisfal and overwhelmed the defences of the Forsaken. Their main aim was to capture the Ships docked at the Undercity and sail to Fenris Isle to destroy Virgil and his forces. The Void Horde was stopped by the *Knightguard* and their allies.

### Third Defeat of Ryun'eh

Dawn Terimidias lead the Argent Squad 6 down into the *Fenris Catacombs* which connected into Ryun'eh's chamber. Virgil joined them, who was possessing the body of Araxamas Terimidias at the time. In Ryun'eh's chamber, the group managed to defeat the Servants Cult and Ryun'eh's servants. Virgil, who planned on sacrificing Dawn's life in order to defeat Ryun'eh, was stopped, when the alternative plan of summoning a Holy Spear from the Shadowlands was instead proposed.

**Kay** had carved a piece of the *Great Tree* - a vessel of unfathomable Holy power, to craft the spear, claiming it was capable of slaying Ryun'eh, however, it could only be wielded by Dawn, who had the essence of Virgil augmented onto her spirit.

Virgil was able to open the portal to the Shadowlands, granting Dawn the spear. Dawn was then able to strike Ryun'eh in the heart. The intense holy energy ignited from the spear, smothering the entire cavern with intense light.

## Trivia

* Ryun'eh is based from this quest in World of Warcraft
* His appearance is inspired by this art from the Wow Chronicle Volume 3, which eludes to a potential fifth canonical old god.

## Speculation

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.**

Ryun'eh could still be alive? kek